Help Me Breathe
by RoriRoseWillEatYou
Summary: Jane is practically a slave, trapped in a world of blood. What happens when she meets Benedikt, who wants her for her blood... and maybe more...
1. Chapter 1

It is a rare moment when I don't fear for my life. Lovely, wonderful, but rare.

My name is Jane. I'm a human. I guess. Being a part of humanity requires being part of the human cosmos, doesn't it? I suppose I'm not human, then. I don't live with other humans. Just the vampires.

When I was twelve, my parents died in a violent car crash. I went to live with Rider, my mysterious appointed guardian. He was a vampire who had, when my parents were young and idiotic rather than merely foolish, made them a deal. Either they die, or they give him their first-born daughter. Which, whoopdidoo, happens to be me. My parents had, young and stupid as they were, agreed, not even thinking about children, merely wanting to survive. Then, three years later, I was born. My mother had made an effort to hide me, but my father just seemed to give up. I was told from an early age, inspiring a dogged enjoyment in death and darkness. I loved the elegant feel of black fingerless gloves, slinking up to my elbows. I loved the black, glossy polish on my nails. I adored how the servants at my parent's home called me Lady or Mistress. I loved the black Victorian ball gowns. In short, I loved the dark.

Until Rider came for me. That changed everything, made my life a hot commodity.

Rider was, and still is, cold and domineering and brutally attractive. He made me a pet, paraded me before his friends and made a laughingstock out of me. I can still remember the titters hid behind lacy fans, the distant, amused eyes boring into me as I slunk past them in my ragged cotton clothes. I remember going insane at one point, screaming and ranting and yanking my hair out in fistfuls, wailing about the _cold_, the burning _cold_. I remember Rider and Vanessa, his slinky mate, laughing and tossing plates at me. Then, when my mental imbalance stopped amusing them, Rider and Vanessa beat me back into sanity. I suppose that I'm greatful.

And when Rider was thirsty but too lazy to go out, he would hook his finger at me and beckon with his icy, diamond-toothed smile. _Closer, child, or I'll chase you..._

In case you were wondering, no, vampires do not have fangs. I wish they did. Then there would have been a quick pricking sensation before the frustrated kick and _Be gone, you worthless wretch_. Instead I got the burning, then the tearing, then the screaming. My skin is littered with mocking nips and angry bites. I am, as Vanessa put it, a masterpiece.

So when Vanessa skulked into my cupboard room and told me that Rider had lost a bet, my heart almost leapt out of my chest. By some stroke of intuition, I knew that I was being taken away, and that was all that mattered. Vanessa leaned forward instinctively, dragged by the pull of my thudding heart. As I recoiled into myself, Rider's cold hand appeared on Vanessa's chalky arm, restraining.

"_No mas, querida_," he said to her as he glared at me. No more, darling.

"But--"

"Rider. Vanessa," a smooth voice inserted. And what a wonderful, dreamy voice it was.

The vampire was beautiful, even more so than Rider or any of his friends. His skin was snowy, not sallow or chalky. His voice was low and made me think of darkness. Not the unfathomable darkness I associated with Rider, but a comfortable darkness, found beneath a favorite quilt. His eyes were completely different, however. They were an unsettling shade of burgundy. They flickered quickly between my face and the faces of my keepers.

"This is Jane," he assumed.

"Yes. Take her if you want her." Rider's voice was surly, spiteful with defeat.

"She'll only cause you trouble, Benedikt," Vanessa said in a wheedling voice. "You'd save a lot of trouble by leaving her."

Benedikt stared at me with his edgy red eyes. "She's been with you for five years? Making her seventeen."

"Insufferable seventeen," Vanessa said, her voice still haggling. Benedikt knelt down to my level. I looked down at my hands, fiddling with a fingernail.

"I heard a human can make you a very fascinating object of conversation," he said idly. "Especially a relatively good-looking one." His hand reached out, invisible with speed, catching my chin and turning my face so he could see me from all angles. I complied, closing my eyes. His wintry touch was frightening. I immediately understood that whatever comfortable emotions I had harbored because of his voice were horribly wrong. He would parade me just as Rider and Vanessa had, maybe in front of many more people.

"Lovely," he breathed, so quietly that I couldn't tell if I heard it right. He stood abruptly. "Come, child. Quickly."

I stood and he eyed my cotton shorts, which weren't so much shorts as underwear on my long legs. Vanessa scowled at the wooden floor.

"Ah, yes. I see you've been taking wonderful care of her," Benedikt said dryly as I crept past them, shivering. Rider's fingers twitched, and I could tell he was trying not to grab me by my thick black hair.

"Why do you want her anyway?" Vanessa whined. Benedikt just followed me into the parlor, then out the front door. A black limousine was waiting. A tall, brooding vampire opened the door for us. I crawled in, tears blocking my vision. Benedikt slid in after me, and the other vampire closed the door. I trembled against the other door, letting the tears roll down my face. I was hit with a sudden blast of warm air as the other vampire turned the heat on in the car.

"Thank you, James," Benedikt said absently. James nodded, navigating through the crowded streets. I peered out the windows. I hadn't been outside to touch the sunshine in five years. But the windows were tinted, and the sunlight just bounced away from me.

"Why are you crying?"

I looked back at the mildly curious Benedikt. His crimson eyes watched me strangely. Like he was asking a new puppy what it _saw_ out there.

"I'm leaving," I explained simply, my heart glowing at the knowledge. And never coming back, I promised myself.

It took about an hour to reach Benedikt's estate. It was huge, almost a castle. I imagined myself dancing in my inky black ballgowns, like when I was younger. I smiled forlornly.

"We'll have to find her something to wear," Benedikt murmured to James. "I had figured that they at least had some proper clothes for her."

"Rider and Vanessa aren't very good people," James pointed out in a deep, thoughtful voice. "Look at her arms, Master Benedikt."

"Her arms I can understand," Benedikt said stubbornly. "Can't you smell her?"

James was silent as he parked and got out to open the door for us. Benedikt's arrogant face was set in a smirk as he pulled me out after him. My eyes were locked on the ground.

I was recieved by an older woman and a small boy, who took a whiff of me and laughed a pealing, child's giggle.

"I can see why Master Benedikt wanted her. And he only smelled her on Rider and Vanessa's clothes," he said to the woman, eyeing me. "I don't see how anyone could stop at one taste."

If you didn't understand any of that, it's because I'm pure-blood Irish. If you had pure blood, untainted by another race, your blood was so much more appealing. I had once seen Rider tear into a pure-blooded Mexican man, and I was glad that it wasn't me. I let my hair fall in front of my face, hoping the little boy wasn't thirsty. All of these vampires, James and the woman and the boy, had milky skin, not an unhealthy pallor like the other vampires I had seen. It was beautiful. My skin was alabaster, but not in a healthy way. There was no color in my cheeks.

"Nathan, take her to her room," the woman said. Her voice was as sharp as James's voice was smooth. "I'll bring her some more suitable clothes."

I was given a room offset from Benedikt's. I was grateful I hadn't been forced to sleep in his room, because I only felt safe when I was unconcious and unknowing, and a vampire that wanted me purely for my blood was not exactly calming.

"He won't kill you," Nathan said in a conversational tone, as if we were talking about wages rather than blood. "You smell nice and you're pretty. Master Benedikt wouldn't give something like that up."

He looked up and gave me a brilliant angel's smile. I smiled hesitantly back. This wasn't as strange for me as it would have been for a normal human. I was used to having people blithely chat about my demise.

"The lady was Millecent. She's the housekeeper. She's nice," Nathan continued. "She's going to get you a dress for tonight."

I nodded, sitting on my huge new bed. Nathan watched me from the doorway, a bemused smile on his childish face.

"You didn't even ask what's happening tonight," he laughed. I looked up at him.

"Should I know?" I asked. He pushed some of his sandy blonde hair out of his eyes.

"Master Benedikt called for a party. A get together for all his friends. He just wants to show off that he got you," he whispered conspiratorialy. I nodded and looked down at my knobbly knees.

"Will there be dancing?" I asked when Nathan waited for me to say something.

"Not for you," he said haughtily. "Humans can't dance with vampires."

"Why?" I asked, wondering how long I could keep up a conversation. I had never tested my vocal chords in this way.

"Have you ever seen a vampire dance?" he asked in an ominous voice. "They move so fast the eye can barely grasp them. A human would die in their arms."

"Oh," I said with total lack of understanding.

"Nathan, leave us so Jane can choose her clothes." Millecent appeared behind the boy, grasping his shoulder in her bony hand and pulling him away. She brought in a huge rack of dresses, all different colors.

I felt faint looking at them. There were too many of them. I was too tired. I looked at Millecent with defeated blue eyes. She sighed.

"Are you tired?" she demanded. I shrugged, looking at my feet. She let out a huff of frustration, and I looked up at her from under my eyelashes. She had turned and was striding briskly out of the room.

"Sleep if you must," she said crossly. "You won't be able to try all the dresses."

I flinched as she slammed the door closed. I turned and crawled back onto the bed, snuggling up under the covers. They were ebony with forest green edges. Everything seemed to be those colors. I stared up at the poofy green netting of the canopy bed, letting it drift me into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

"Jane."

I rolled over, away from the noise, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Jane," Benedikt repeated. I hunched my shoulders.

Suddenly, cold iron pincers dug into the back of my neck and pulled me up. It took me a moment to realize they were Benedikt's fingers.

His red eyes bored into mine.

"Get up," he said. "Or you're going to the party naked."

I stopped my half-hearted squirms, straightening up. He smirked.

"I see we understand each other. Find a dress. Nathan will bring you down to the party. I'll be waiting for you."

He waited for me to speak. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out for a few tries. Finally I had enough control to say in a soft voice, "It's a date."

He raised an eyebrow, then let me go, slipping with disturbing speed out the door.

I took advantage of the huge, many spouted shower, then stood, wrapped in a fluffy green towel, in front of the dresses. I suppose they were all beautiful. A myriad of colors in every shape.

I hated them all.

There were too many colors. Why would I want all these silly, flouncy things? Who in their right mind would want them? Where was the basic black?

I finally, after tearing all the other ostentatious things away, found a black floor-length gown with a slit up the thigh and flowing, steel gray sleeves. It was off the shoulder, so more of my translucent skin was showing, but I really couldn't care. I dumped all the other dresses on the floor and kicked them under the bed. Let happen what may to them.

Nathan laughed at my choice when I stepped out of my room.

"No, I like it," he said, in response to my stare. "I had a feeling you would choose that one."

"Gee. Thanks." I was proud of myself that I remembered sarcasm after all these years.

Nathan lead me down the marble staircase, keeping a careful distance between us. At the foot of the staircase, he said in a clear voice, "Master, Jane is here."

Benedikt appeared, as if out of no where, beside the small boy. He looked at my dress and smiled thinly.

"Millecent thought you would pick one of the red numbers," he said glibly. "I suppose Nathan has a better eye for these things."

I was silent, but Nathan chuckled warmly.

"Come, child," Benedikt said, holding his hand out to me. I took it, letting him lead me through the throng of vampires that had appeared to watch me with curious eyes.

"Ben, who is this?" one young woman asked, her rusty red eyes appraising me.

"Cassandra, this is Jane. Jane, this is my friend Cassandra," Benedikt said, gesturing absently between Cassandra and me. I figured out how to work my muscles into a shy smile. Cassandra smiled back, tossing her flaming orange hair over her shoulder. Then she took a deep breath.

"You _are _the lucky one, Ben. She smells simply delectable," she said, laughing heartily. Her skin was snow white, with a slight flush to her cheeks. I assumed she wouldn't be thirsty for a while.

"Aren't I?" Benedikt asked, smiling. "She used to be with Rider and Vanessa. Come, child."

He pulled me over to the wall. The stone had been chiseled away to form a bench, which he sat down upon before pulling me into his lap.

"Sit, child," he ordered, a smile in his voice. I leaned back into his cold chest, watching the dreamy figures dance.

Nathan was right about their incredible speed. They weren't invisible with it, like when they were running, but they seemed to blur into each other, like ethereal fog. There was laughing and chatting at a normal pace, which clashed strangely with the unnaturally quick dancers. One couple, a small Asian woman and a tall red haired man, glided towards us as they danced.

"Ben," the woman greeted warmly. "Introduce me?"

She was staring at me with copper eyes, her ultrawhite teeth bared in a cheerful smile.

"Benedikt," the man acknowledged, nodding at Benedikt.

"Jordan, Ashton, this is Jane. Jane, this is Jordan," he gestured to the woman, who's smile got impossibly wider, "And this is Ashton."

"Lovely to meet you, Jane," Ashton said, his face expressionless. Jordan glided forward to give me pecks on both cheeks.

"I hope you enjoy your stay here," she said in her friendly voice, not acknowledging that the only way I was leaving this place was in a box. She gave Benedikt a radiant smile before gliding back to Ashton's side. She bounced up on her toes and kissed his jaw, then lead him back into the crowd of dancers.

Their dynamic struck me as curious. They were clearly mates, just as Rider and Vanessa had been mates, but it was totally different between them. Jordan seemed just as comfortable holding Ashton close to her as she would if she were merely breathing. And Ashton, his large hands wrapped around her waist, was curved protectively over her, not watching anything but her eyes.

"They love each other," Benedikt said simply, watching me watch them. "It's very rare to find someone you need beyond instant gratification. Jordan found Ashton in 1856. Ashton had been suffering from depression, wondering where the point was to his life. He found the point in Jordan."

He smiled, as if some aspect of the story was funny. "It was fall, and she was dancing in the rain. He couldn't understand how someone could be so excited about water from the sky, but she just smiled at him and said, 'Did you know this day will never happen again? This is the last time I see this drop falling on that blade of grass.' She seemed so purely delighted by it, and as you can see, when Jordan gets excited, she can spread it to everyone."

I felt something come up in my chest and was shocked with a laugh. When was the last time I had laughed?

Benedikt chuckled as well, smiling at Jordan's back as she mimed shredding guitar. All the vampires around her laughed, some of the men clapping Ashton on the shoulder and some of the women propping each other up to keep from falling down with laughter. Then the dancing restarted, with Jordan and Ashton in the middle of it.

"She's lovely," I breathed as Jordan twirled elegantly, her dress swirling. It was a strange mix of Spanish and Japanese. There was the fabric attached to the sides of her dress that strung onto her ring fingers, which made me think of traditional Spanish dresses. Then there was the dragon embroidery and high neck, which made me think of kimonos.

"Yes," Benedikt agreed. "She's quite the spectacle when she wants to be."

I watched the dancers all through the night, never leaving the confines of Benedikt's lap. I was so small compared to him that he could stroke my hair like I was a pet. By five o'clock in the morning, the dancers began to leave, wishing Benedikt a good day in muted voices before gliding out the door. Jordan and Ashton were the last to leave. Jordan gave me another kiss on the cheek and danced away, pulling her brooding mate along with her. He sent a thin, heart-stopping smile my way before he disappeared through the door.

Benedikt stood, but instead of sending me to my room, he sat me back down on the bench. He knelt down beside me and took my right hand between his cool, strong fingers. He fiddled with it, tracing my life-line before looking up at me with his burning red eyes.

"Jane," he murmured. "I have something to ask you."

I stared impassively at him. "What?"

Benedikt pushed my sleeve up and stroked one of the crescent shaped bite marks on my arms. His cold fingers raised goosebumps on my skin. "Did they really just... bite you? A thousand times?"

"Yes," I said, staring sightlessly at a ring on his middle finger. It was silver, with an onyx stone and emerald inlays.

"They could have just cut you," he murmured, tracing a blue vein from my wrist to my elbow. "Bled you from there. It would have only hurt for a second." He lapsed into a musing silence, rubbing my skin with his thumb. I tipped my head to one side, watching the light shine blue on his inky black hair. Suddenly there was a shiny silver triangle in his hand.

He held the blade up to show me, his crimson eyes unreadable. My body reacted with fear, even if my mind didn't care. My heart skittered, broke into a sprint. My pupils dilated, and my hair stood on end.

He seemed to find something unsettling in my face. His eyes smoldered with confusion and thirst. I held my hand up a bit closer to his face, distant and removed from myself. The blade came down.

There was a pinching sensation, then warmth. Benedikt dropped his head to my bleeding wrist. His tongue traced a blood trail, and his sigh was cool against my skin. His lips shaped themselves around the cut, and he groaned deep in his chest. There was a pulling feeling that was only marginally uncomfortable. His left hand was gripped around my elbow, keeping my sleeve up out of the way, and his right hand was squeezing my fingers, holding my arm in place. I started to feel light headed, but instead of squirming away, I curved over him, pressing my face into his thick hair and inhaling. He smelled so wonderful to me, but that might have just been my reaction to the blood loss. Like oranges and brown sugar. I was seeing spots on the insides of my eyelids. He moaned against my skin.

"Master Benedikt, sir, stop," came a panicked voice across the room. Benedikt snarled into my wound, which hurt, but then he resumed drinking my blood. I opened my eyes and turned my head to look at the speaker, my would-be savior.

Nathan had darted back over, and he was wringing his slender hands and bouncing on his toes.

"Master Benedikt, please stop. You'll kill her," he pleaded. I wanted to thank him, to reach out and comfort the little vampire who was worried about me, but my limbs were as heavy as lead. I could just close my weary eyes and press my cheek against Benedikt's hair. He was sucking greedily, dragging his cool tongue across my skin.

"Wouldn't it be embarrassing, Master," came James' low, deep voice, "If Rider found out that you killed her the first night you had her."

Benedikt's lips and tongue froze against my arm, and I almost moaned. I was so delightfully lightheaded...

He pulled away, looking up at my face. I could only stare back dizzily.

My blood was smeared across his lips and chin. I sucked in a ragged breath.

He wrapped his left hand slowly around my cut to stop what bleeding was left, then used his right hand to palm the blood off his face. I was shivering uncontrollably.

He stood, my arm still clutched in his hand. I went up with him, my lips trembling and my knees weak.

"Nathan, take Jane to her room and have Millecent clean her up," he said in an inflectionless voice.

"Yes, Master," Nathan murmured, appearing at my side. I couldn't pull my gaze from Benedikt's face; his wild eyes, his flushed cheeks, his thin lips. Everything seemed to be simultaneously stretching and narrowing. I blinked a few times, trying to keep myself from passing out.

Nathan had a strip of gauze, from where I had no idea, and he wrapped it quickly and tightly around my arm. I let him lead me, staggering, to my room. I collapsed onto my bed, and as the world spiraled down into a pinpoint, I thought of how lucky I was that Nathan was strong enough to drag me under the covers, because my fingers were too weak to do it themselves.


	3. Chapter 3

I was practically positive that I was dreaming.

I was still in bed. Everything was black, and I could hear voices.

"Should she be that cold?" a worried woman's voice asked, and I felt something against my skin. Not cold, but not warm, either.

"She needs more blankets," a small voice insisted, and I felt something settle onto me. "That's good, just a blanket."

"She lost a lot of blood," a deep voice said.

"Lost," the woman snorted. "We all know exactly where the blood went."

"She's bound to be cold and weak," the deep voice continued, as if the woman hadn't spoken. "I'm impressed that she hasn't gone yet." Pause. "I don't think we should tell the Master about this."

"He should know what he's done, to give him incentive not to do it again," the woman said, her tone sharp. "But I see what you mean. I think we should just point out that he should be more careful next time."

"Another blanket," the little voice said, strained and worried. Something else settled heavily onto me. "Maybe we should light the fireplace."

"She just needs a few days rest," the woman soothed. "Good food and blankets, like you said."

There was silence, and I imagined Nathan looking dubious. I heard a clap of a hand against a granite shoulder.

"Don't worry, boy," the deep voice said. "You've done very well."

"Come," the woman said. "We need to go to bed. The sun is too high."

There was a small sigh. "Oh, Millie."

"Don't 'Oh Millie' me, Nathan Malew. Come."

There was the soft sound of a door being closed, then silence. I faded more deeply asleep, this dream having thoroughly worn me out.

It was hazy. Droplets of rain splattered on my arms and the top of my head. I couldn't see through the grey fog. Suddenly, Benedikt was in front of me, taking my hand and pressing it to his chest. I felt his weak heart-beat.

Vampires are, by definition, the living dead. Vampirism is little more than a disease. Once turned, you become a hard body with a soft heart. Vampires' hearts keep what little blood they have flowing through their bodies, allowing them to move and work and breathe. Their hearts are important to their survival, which is why, if you even manage to damage their hearts through their marble skin, it is very likely that they'll die. You can cut a vampire's head off and it will keep living until it starves to death. Their bodies are incapable of providing blood for themselves, so they need to take it from their victims. The blood is absorbed through the esophagus into the capillary veins, directly into the heart. So, don't be confused about vampiric heart-beats.

In my dream, I leaned forward to press my ear to his heart. He stroked the top of my head and kissed it. Then I was turned around with my back to him, staring into the fog.

I was so afraid. Something wanted me out there. I trembled against Benedikt. He wrapped his arms protectively around me, pressing his hands against my stomach. His wintry lips were at my ear.

"Don't worry," he breathed. "I'll take care of us."

My eyelids snapped open, and I was staring at the frothy canopy.

Millecent made me stay in bed for a few days. Nathan would stoke the fire in the fireplace and bring me gloves to keep my fingers warm.

"It's too hot," I complained to the little boy after about four days. "Can't we get rid of all these blankets?"

Nathan's face lit up. "Of course!" Then he hesitated, searching my face. "But only a few. We don't want you to get too cold."

So I got rid of the blankets, hour by hour. Then I wanted the fire out. Then I wanted the woolly gloves gone, replaced with fingerless satin ones.

Nathan was ecstatic. Once I had a sturdy pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, he would take me around the estate.

I didn't see Benedikt for another three days.

He reappeared as Nathan was giving me a detailed view of the garden. He had us both down on our knees to brush our hands over the soft Irish moss between the flagstones of the path. I had looked up to smile at the anxious little boy, but then I had glimpsed Benedikt, leaning against a pillar. I straightened slowly, and Nathan turned to see what I was looking at. He was up on his feet in an instant.

"Master, I was just showing Jane how soft the moss was," he said, wringing his hands. Benedikt nodded, pulling his gaze away from my face and settling it on Nathan.

"That's good, Nathan. May I take Jane off your hands for a moment?"

Nathan looked uncomfortable, glancing between me and Benedikt. I smiled at him. He smiled hesitantly back, then held his hand out to help me stand. I took it. When I was up, I walked easily to Benedikt's side.

"Thank you for showing me the garden, Nathan," I said. He smiled, still glancing at Benedikt, who led me deeper into the lush tangle of vines. His hands were shoved deeply into his pockets. I wondered if he had the little silver blade.

"Do you like the gardens, Jane?" he asked, staring out into the green.

"They're very lovely. I'm glad Nathan showed them to me," I replied.

"I'm sure Nathan's glad that you're glad," he said. We walked in silence for a few more paces. Then he stopped abruptly. We were on a little stepping bridge, with a stream, merely water trickling over mossy stones, bubbling beneath the boards under our feet. He took a deep breath and rested his right hand on the wooden railing.

"Jane," he started, glancing at me, then back at the trees and flowers. "I would like to... apologize... for that night... after... the party..."

His jaw locked suddenly, as if he were frustrated. Or in pain.

"That was... incredibly stupid... of me..." he said between his teeth. There was a horrible crunching noise. I looked down at his hand.

His fingers had bit through the railing, and a huge splinter was thrust into his palm. A bit of blood oozed around it. He and I stared at it, before he raised his hand to his mouth and gripped the splinter with his front teeth, gripping his hurt hand with his other one. He pulled it out, wincing, then held it in his left hand. His right hand was already healing.

He stared at the splinter, then turned his burning eyes to me imploringly.

"What are you _doing_ to me?" he whispered. Then he pushed past me, back the way we had come, disappearing.

I stared at the shattered railing, and silently let the tears slip down my face.


	4. Chapter 4

I stared into Nathan's luminescent blue eyes. My own eyes tightened slightly, measuring his demeanor, calculating his stance.

Beside me, Millecent pulled in a worried breath. Beside Nathan, James sighed.

"BS," I declared finally.

"Fuck," Nathan muttered, throwing his cards down. "How the hell do you always know?"

"Watch it," Millecent said sharply.

"I didn't know you had such a mouth on you, Nathan," James chuckled.

"Well, I'm pissed. Nobody ever beats me at BS," Nathan snapped, leaning back in his chair and glowering. I smiled warmly and dragged the mountain of Orbits gum to my side of the table.

"I feel bad, taking all your gum like this," I said. Nathan wrinkled his nose.

"Wanna go again?" he demanded, leaning forward.

"You two have been at this for hours," James complained.

"And the boy has yet to win a match," Millecent said, giving one of her rare smiles.

"I think you should at least up the ante," James said. "It's not very intense with chewing gum."

"Says you," Nathan said.

"I remember the old days, when two vampires could play cards for months at a time," Millecent said. "The cards were very different, of course, none of these fancy both-ways numbers and the like. The cards weren't so crisp and flicky, but goodness gracious you could play until three moons passed."

"What'd you bet with?" James asked.

Nathan was dealing cards out, tossing first to me, then to himself. They made a musical swish click noise.

(_card CARD card CARD_)

"Are noises different for you?" I asked Nathan. "As a vampire, I mean. Are they better or worse?"

Nathan's dealing didn't slow as he looked thoughtfully at the high-vaulted ceiling. "I can't really say. I haven't been human in a long time, and I don't remember most of it."

"Oh," I said.

"We would bet with lives, of course," Millecent told James, as if he was a child. "I won a whole city, once. A whole population of people, all to myself." She sighed.

"Do you like working for Benedikt?" I directed my question at Nathan again, but I was curious what had gotten James and Millecent working for Benedikt, as well.

Nathan beamed like a happy child. "Yes. I really do. There's a big garden and lots of room to run around, and the work is easy so long as I do it right."

"Benedikt is a very pleasant man to work for," James said. "He doesn't have the poor attitude that high ranking vampires usually have."

"He's as messy as a child," Millecent said. Her voice, though sharp, managed to be doting, and she shook her head indulgently. "Silly, reckless boy."

"How come you work for him?" I asked.

"Millecent and I both needed a more peaceful atmosphere," James said after a brief, almost unnoticeable pause. "We both came from... harsher realities. As Millie's card histories suggest," he added, his tone teasing. Millecent rolled her eyes.

"Time for bed, all of you," she said, standing up from her high-backed arm chair. "I don't think I can take much more of this."

After much complaining, Nathan and I skulked up the stairs. James had gone outside to lock the gates for the day.

"I'm really tired," I admitted quietly. "I'm not used to sleeping during the day, yet."

"Yeah," Nathan said, yawning. "I'm used to it, but it always makes me sad."

"Why?"

He hesitated, staring at my bedroom door thoughtfully. "I do remember one thing about being human. My mother. She had long blonde hair, even blonder than Millie's. She loved to dance. Rain, snow, but usually in the sun. She would take me outside and swing me around and laugh and sing." He paused, and now his voice was distant, fading. "I really miss her. She always liked the sun."

He fell silent, then took my hand to pull me down for a kiss on the cheek. "Good morning, Jane."

"Good morning, Nathan," I replied in a subdued voice, watching him glide, ghostlike, to his room down the hall.

I entered my room quietly, closing the door. I tried to recall happy memories of my mother. I remembered her worrying, crying, complaining. My heart seemed to pull into my stomach when I couldn't remember her with a smile on her face. I couldn't remember her singing or laughing. Sure, she danced at parties, waltzes with my father. I could remember her black hair pulled up into an elegant bun, her movements graceful, but practiced and precise. Her face, though, was always frowning, always finding something wrong with the situation. This whole train of thought disturbed me.

I thought of Nathan's mother. I could picture her, her long, white-blonde hair flowing around her and her face glowing with laughter. I thought of little Nathan in her arms as she mocked the waltz and twirled grandly. My eyes pricked uncomfortably, and I reached up to touch the wetness on my lashes.

"Why are you crying?"

I gasped and whipped around. Benedikt was sitting, cross-legged, on my bed. His burgundy eyes examined me curiously. My heart felt like it was screaming out of my body. I closed my eyes and leaned the back of my head against the thick mahogany door.

"You scared me," I accused, opening my eyes.

"But that's not why you were crying," he pointed out. He rose sinuously from the bed and drifted towards me. He ducked his head to look me in the eye. "I'm sorry I frightened you."

I stared mutely at him. He frowned, peering into my eyes. Suddenly, his fingers were tracing my lower lashes, feeling my tears.

I pulled back against the door. If he could tell I was crying, across the room _with my back turned_, then did he really need to be that close to my face to examine my teardrops?

He sighed as he saw the irritation in my eyes. "Jane. You can't even talk to me?"

"I thought boys didn't like discussing their feelings," I hedged. Benedikt raised an eyebrow.

"We aren't talking about my feelings. We're talking about yours," he said. Then he smiled crookedly, tipping his head to one side. "Or trying to, at least."

"Who turned Nathan?" I asked. Benedikt's smile disappeared. "You didn't, did you?"

"No, I didn't. I met Nathan in Versailles," he said, his brow puckering. "Jane?"

"Who turned Nathan?" I repeated. Benedikt's lips were pursed as he tried to read my face.

"Nathan was turned by an Austrian vampire named Emil. Emil was mentally unbalanced; he told Nathan that he kept seeing the ghost his human wife, and that Nathan looked too much like his son to leave behind. He turned Nathan on a whim, and just as soon lost interest. He acted as if Nathan was just a dog." Benedikt paused. His eyes were now remote, yet angry. "Child vampires were usually turned in that fashion. When their creators decided that they didn't care for the child anymore, they used them in fighting rings."

My eyes widened. "Fighting rings?"

Benedikt glowered. "They would put the children in a cage and have them fight their ways out."

My throat let out a small whimpering noise. My brain spewed up an image of Nathan -- trapped behind metal bars, his hand a little claw reaching out to Emil, his eyes burning like blue fire, his teeth bared in a snarl. In my mind, another child grabbed Nathan by his sandy hair and sank its teeth into his throat. My ears rang with Nathan's screams, howling, roaring, breaking and returning like some horrible song...

"Jane? Jane!"

"I'm... sorry..." I whispered. Benedikt's arms tightened around me.

"You just fell over," he said, his voice frustrated and panicky. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," I repeated. He shook his head angrily. I tried to straighten and was greeted with dizziness. "I think I stopped breathing."

"Just, um, don't move. Here." He picked me up effortlessly, but with pristine care. He carried me to the bed and laid me down on it, propping me up on the pillows and pushing my hair away from my sweaty face. I hadn't even noticed that I was flushed.

"Nathan's just so happy all the time," I said after a moment. Benedikt's eyes tightened and his jaw clenched.

"Emil was a lineless pup who couldn't care for himself," he snapped. His voice was as fiery as his eyes. I smiled faintly.

In the vampire world, being lineless means that you don't have any connections to other vampires. A lineless person is basically a bastard. A pup is usually a term used for a vampire who refuses to leave their Sire, but it can also be used for someone who was simply dependant upon others to take care of them.

A frightening thought suddenly occured to me. "Emil was so lonely and crazy... he won't come looking for Nathan, will he?"

Benedikt's face closed off and he pulled slightly away from me. I hadn't noticed how close he was, had even managed to forget that his arms were still around my waist. Now he sat up and rubbed his left shoulder uncomfortably. His crimson eyes were on the mahogany bed post as he answered quietly.

"No. Emil won't be coming back for Nathan."

I straightened up slowly, leaning towards him. I touched his shoulder, which tightened. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, but rather than standing up and moving away, he sat rooted. His eyes never left the bed post as I leaned closer and pulled the sleeve of his black tee-shirt out of the way.

There was a crescent-shaped scar shimmering on his skin. It answered so many questions that he hadn't.

"You killed Emil," I said, my voice inflectionless. Benedikt remained silent, but his eyes flickered to me. The scene played itself out in my mind. I focused on my breathing so I wouldn't faint again.

Maybe Benedikt had just seen Nathan's treatment, and gotten angry over it. Or maybe he had already taken the poor child away, and Emil was looking for him. I could see Emil charge Benedikt--

_//Benedikt leans away and Emil catches his shoulder. He digs into it, snarling bitterly.//_

I traced thinner scars with my finger-tips, which lead up to Benedikt's throat.

_//Of course. Emil doesn't want Benedikt's shoulder, he wants his _throat_. He gnaws, repositioning his teeth and trying to get a better grip as Benedikt tries to yank away. Nathan is fidgeting in a corner, terrified and probably thinking of his mother who liked to dance in the sunshine, and Benedikt is howling and Emil is snarling.//_

I leaned forward involuntarily, brushing Benedikt's scars with the tip of my nose. My hands had left his arms to dig into his hair as I breathed in his scent. Oranges... and brown sugar... My warm breath rushed against his cool skin.

Suddenly I was back on the pillows and Benedikt was three feet away from the bed. His burgundy eyes were glittering, and there were hectic spots of red on his cheeks. My chest rose with a deep breath, and Benedikt's eyes seemed to blaze from his skull...

He closed his eyes and turned his back on me, towards the door to his room.

"Good morning, Jane," he said quietly.

I was mute as he disappeared through the door.


	5. Chapter 5

I was dreaming again. But now I was in a cage.

Nathan was opposing me, his face somber and his aqua eyes twinkling eerily. Among the spectators were my parents, Nathan's mother, Millecent and James, and Benedikt. There was a man beside Benedikt who I intuitively knew as Emil, even though his face was foggy. Rider and Vanessa were there, sneering at me. Jordan was looking at me with mournful copper eyes, but Ashton was holding her away, keeping her from saving me.

My lips curled back from my teeth and a snarl rose up from my chest. I tried to cringe away from the horrible noise, but my dream body stalked to the center of the cage. Jordan tried to reach out, but Ashton pulled her back, his usually remote eyes sparking with defensive anger. Because _I _was the monster. _I_ could hurt Jordan, this I knew.

Nathan snarled at me, his face transforming into another face, and his body grew into that of an adult. The strange new man with the blazing malachite eyes loomed over me, his teeth bared. I lunged up, my teeth searching for his throat, and was satisfied by his shreik of pain and rage. The scream warbled, morphed from bass to soprano as I tore into the hot skin and felt the boiling blood splatter across my face.

I pulled away from my victim, my mouth twisted into a cruel smirk. But the face wasn't the man's, or Nathan's.

It was my own.

I woke up with a shreik. My fingers flew to my throat. Nothing. Nothing but the smooth alabaster of my skin. No blood, no slash, nothing. My sobs were coming hard and heavy as I doubled over with anguish.

"What's it _mean_?" I whimpered into my hand.

Cool hands were abruptly rubbing my arms. "Sh, sh. Jane, calm down."

I leaned into James's chest, weeping and gasping. "James, it was so _horrible_..."

"Just hush now, it was a dream," he murmured, his arms protective bonds around me. I shuddered and tried to calm myself down. "Tell me about it."

I shivered, and he pulled the blanket up to wrap around me. "I killed myself. In the dream, I... I ripped myself _apart_, it was so _terrible_..."

"How did you kill yourself, girl? Tell me the whole thing, start to finish," James ordered in his deep, soothing voice. I took in another deep breath.

"I... I was in a fighting ring. I was going to fight Nathan at first... But then he changed into somebody else and I killed him... but it wasn't him, it was me..."

"So there were two of you in the dream," James said, trying to understand my convoluted explanations.

"Yeah. Yes. There was the me--" I pointed to myself, "--who _I_ was, and, and I was a vampire. And I was fighting some man... another vampire, with green eyes... and I t-t-tore out his th-th-th..."

"Throat," James finished, his voice quiet. I nodded.

"But it turned out it wasn't really his th... It wasn't really him. It was me, as a human." I was silent for a moment, but my voice was manic when I spoke again. "I _ate_ myself."

"Sh," James purred, holding me tighter as my body shuddered with horror. "Calm down, girl, it was a dream. You'll be alright. They don't come back after you talk about them, the dirty cowards."

I looked up and gave him a wobbly smile. "Neat."

He laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "I'll say. Now you go back to sleep, girl. Have sweeter dreams, this time."

I nodded. He tucked me back into bed and kissed my forehead, like my father used to do.

"Good morning, Jane," he said as he left.

"Good morning, James," I whispered after him.

I didn't dream for the rest of the day.

"This is too easy, Jane."

I turned in surprise as Jordan skipped from the shadows.

"Jordan! What are you doing here?" I asked, my face relaxing into a smile. It was impossible not to, when her smile was so impish. She glanced around, then leaned forward, her smile widening.

"I'm here to kidnap you," she whispered, her teeth glinting in the lamp-light. She found something funny in my expression, and the conspiring smirk was replaced with a grin.

"Kidnap me?" I protested weakly. The way her eyes were glimmering did nothing to assure me.

"Yes, and torture you," she said ominously. Then she brightened. "We're going shopping tonight!"

I widened my eyes in mock-terror, then laughed. Jordan had been popping up around Benedikt's home a lot lately. I remembered the dream (was it really only weeks ago?) where she was reaching out for me, trying to save me from slaughtering myself... I blinked, and the thought was gone.

"Why _are_ you here all the time, Jordan?" I asked as she led me down the stairs. She laughed breezily.

"Ben asked me to. He's worried about you." Then she stopped and glanced at me. For the first time since I had seen her, and I'm sure for the first time in her existence, she looked as if she was embarrassed at saying too much.

"Why's he worried?" I asked, meaning why would the vampire that wanted to eat me be really worried about me.

"He says you haven't been sleeping well, lately," she said.

"No, I mean--"

"Have you had anything to eat yet?" She darted back and forth between me and the door, frustrated by my slow pace. Finally, she picked me up and tossed me over her shoulder. Despite my loud protests and vomiting threats, she whisked me to the car.

She was singing, loudly and with much gusto, some Katy Perry song that continually mocked the listener's sexuality. The car was rocketing around curves at breakneck speeds, but I wasn't scared. I realized sadly that the only things that scared me were my nightmares.

"He wants to eat me," I said suddenly. Jordan laughed and shook her head.

"He wants to screw you. But that is irrelevant and you will now forget that I said it out loud."

I let out a shocked laugh and shook my head. "Jordan, I'm --"

"Did you know the name Jordan means 'descending?'" she asked suddenly, turning to me. "The name Jane, I think, means 'God is gracious.' Benedikt means 'blessed.'"

"What does Ashton mean?" I said finally, defeated. Jordan beamed, her favorite subject having just been reached.

"Ashton is slang for 'sexy as hell.' But it also means 'ash-tree settlement.'"

"Really," I said absently, staring out the window. I could feel Jordan's gaze on the back of my head.

"Life is very pretty, Jane."

"I know that, Jordan, you say it all the time."

"My name wasn't really Jordan, when I was human," she said. I turned to stare at her, but she suddenly seemed very interested in the road. "It was Jin Raku Dai, which means something along the lines of 'great and tender pleasure.'"

She was silent for a long time. My brow furrowed.

"Why'd you change it?" I asked. "It seems like a good name."

She turned and gave me an impish smile. "Very long name. Cumbersome. Ash always complained."

She laughed devilishly then, but I sat back, not understanding. Why would Ashton complain about her name being too long? Cumbersome? Then it hit me.

"Oh! Ew! He could just shorten it, you know," I grumped, stubborn to the point of masochism. I didn't really want more of Jordan's dirty mind right now.

"Oh, I was messing with you. But seriously, do I look like the kind of girl who would respond sexually to Jin?"

"You'd respond sexually to 'Fido,'" I accused.

"Who have you been talking to?"

"Benedikt wants to eat me, not sleep with me," I said quickly. Jordan sighed.

"Have you ever smelled that man? He smells like cookies."

"No he doesn't. He smells like oranges," I protested, and she turned to grin at me.

"Only when he's turned on."

"We're stopping now."

"Sure."

We sat in silence for a while, until Jordan pulled up in front of the shopping mall. We got out and shopped for an hour. We were in the dressing room when I finally had to ask.

"Cookies?"


	6. Chapter 6

I would like to say now: Every question I ever asked Jordan about Benedikt was purely to keep myself alive for as long as possible.

Seriously. I swear.

Shut up.

Jordan was laughing as she watched me eat in the food court. As my blush deepened, she would occasionally lean forward to give me a sniff.

"Back off; people are gonna think we're together," I complained when she got close enough to brush her nose against my skin.

"Oh, baby," she murmured, but she leaned away.

"Look, I know I smell tasty, alright, just sniff my wrist and act like you're smelling my new perfume." I held it up as if I was showing her, and she grinned as she grabbed my hand.

"Thanks, Jane. It means alot to me."

"Yeah, yeah, just try not to accidentally eat me," I grumbled.

"What do we have here?"

Jordan and I glanced up. My expression was one of embarrassed mortification, but Jordan just laughed.

"Heath, smell this girl. She's simply delectable."

Great. Not only did someone find Jordan sniffing me, but it was a vampire that I might see again. My head fell into my hands.

"Thanks, Jori, I'll pass," Heath said.

"Seriously! This is Benedikt's pet, you had to have heard of her." Jordan held up my wrist.

"What are you, her pimp?"

"My thoughts exactly if I had thoughts like that," I said.

Jordan gave a long-suffering sigh and dropped my wrist. "Heath, this is Jane. Jane, this is the dirty pup that wants my body, Heath."

"Oh, yeah. That's me." Heath rolled his tawny eyes. "Am I so transparent? I need you. Oh baby, oh baby."

"No one has to know," Jordan said.

"I'll tell Ashton," I inserted.

"_Fuck off man I have a boyfriend_!" Jordan screamed, tossing the salt shaker at Heath. "Never speak to me _again_!"

"Jesus Christ, woman, _haude yer wheesht!_" Heath hissed, putting the shaker back on the table. I was giggling helplessly, watching the other humans as they ignored us.

"Oh, God. It was nice meeting you, Jane. I have to escape now. Maybe at Ben's next get-together," he said, turning and ghosting away. A few girls stopped ignoring us to look at him.

"You're an _idiot_," I said as Jordan started cracking up. She stood up shakily.

"Let's go," she chuckled. "You have to try something on that I set aside for you."

"Which store?" I asked. She headed for the exit.

"Sen Sayo's," she answered. My brow puckered.

"I've never heard of it," I said. She grinned as she climbed into the driver's seat of her car.

"That's because you haven't been to the Underground."

My eyes were wide as she drove. The Underground is a... I suppose you could say demon market? You can buy all sorts of dark, frightening things in the Underground. It had been invented by a small coven of female vampires who couldn't stand the bland human clothing they had. They'd _been_ human. They didn't need to be human anymore! This all happened some four hundred years ago, and from what I heard, those ladies are living nice and easy from the profit of the Underground.

But along with clothing, you could buy _stock_. I had seen _stock_. Stock is a handful of shivering humans you could have at twenty, thirty, fourty dollars a pint, _ladies and gentlemen!_

"Benedikt won't want me there," I whispered. Jordan glanced at me, and her smile disappeared.

"Jane, what's wrong?" she asked. The car slowed. "Are you alright?"

"I can't _go_ there!" I cried, my voice suddenly loud in the confines of the car. Jordan wrenched the car to the side of the road and stopped.

"Jane, please, what's the matter?" she asked, her reddish-brown eyes wide.

"I won't go!" I was shivering. Understanding smoothed the wrinkles in her forehead, then.

"Jane, you'll be safe there," she said. "You don't have to go, but you'll be safe there. I won't let anyone hurt you."

I stared wordlessly at her, my lips trembling. Then I slowly calmed down, my own brow furrowing.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, looking out the car window. "I don't know why I reacted like that."

"I'm sorry, too," she said. "We can go back to Chasecroft, if you want."

"No," I said. Chasecroft was the name of Benedikt's estate. "No, we can go to the Underground."

"Here," she said, handing me a thin black ribbon with green trim. "Use it as a choker."

She helped me put it around my pale throat, and I smiled weakly at my image in her mirrors.

"Chasecroft colors," she explained.

"What does that mean?" I asked doubtfully.

"Already taken," she said, her gaze sober. "Untouchable."

I stared at the dashboard as the roads got darker.

"Come on, Jane."

I looked up, and was startled by the bustle outside the car. I let Jordan pull me out. She stood on my right with her left hand on my left shoulder, so there was no chance of anyone else touching me.

The Undergound was in an underground cave, with stalagmites and precious gems, partially cut, glittering in the walls. It was lined with small, well-formed wooden buildings. Jordan led me immediately to a place decked in purple, with soft cursive stating that it was Sen Sayo's.

"Dai-sama!"

The shopkeeper had known we were there before we even saw her. She seemed pleased, and I assumed Jordan was a good customer. She came forward excitedly.

She reminded me very much of a crab. Her hands were held out ever so slightly, as if they would pinch the money out of our pockets. Her eyes and hair were even a startling crabby red-orange shade, which clashed with her slanted Asian eyes.

"Sen-san!" Jordan crooned happily. "Sen-san, this is Jane."

Sen beamed at me, and her eyes sized me up professionally. "From the looks of it your measurements were quite precise, Dai-sama. Of course, you have a very good eye."

"That means a lot coming from you, Sen-san, thank you. Bring it out, I want to see if she likes it."

Sen scuttled back into the shop and Jordan led me in at a leisurely pace. I eyed the other dresses in awe. I had never seen anything like them. So unique, so beautiful...

"I know you don't like really eye-catching colors like I do," Jordan said easily. "I told Sen your preferences and kept coming back to check on it and make any changes. I really hope you like it."

"Wow," I breathed. Sen had come back with something long, black, and gorgeous in her arms.

"Great measurements, Sen-san," Jordan complimented, and Sen beamed. I reached forward with tentative fingers to touch the masterpiece.

It was long and flowing, but the fabric was lightweight. The bodice was thin velvet and the skirt was silk. It was completely black, but there was star and moon stitching on the flared sleeves. They shimmered in the light when Sen moved the dress slightly. I couldn't stop the huge grin from stretching over my face. Jordan laughed merrily, and after a moment Sen joined her.

"So you like it, no?" Sen asked.

"It's so beautiful, I love it. You're an amazing seamstress," I said. Sen laughed, but I could see a reply in the backs of her orange eyes: _Dai-sama is an amazing buyer._

"How much, Sen-san?" Jordan asked. Sen smiled.

"Just the promise that you and the new Chasecroft-sama will visit me for many years to come, Dai-sama," she said, although her eyes tightened as she handed the dress to Jordan.

"Oh, Sen-chan, what would I do without you?" Jordan sighed happily. Sen shrugged, then laughed with Jordan.

"Come on, Jane, let's go put this in the car," Jordan said after Sen bowed us out.

"Who's the new Chasecroft-sama?" I asked. Jordan raised her eyebrows slowly.

"You are," she said slowly, as if I were deficient.

"What? Why?" I demanded.

"You live at Chasecroft, don't you? With Benedikt Chasecroft?" Jordan laughed. I shook my head.

"But I'm just a human, she doesn't need to--"

"You're a human owned by a rich vampire," she said sharply. She was frowning, as if something upset her. "Just roll with it, Jane."

I was silent, my lips pursed as she dragged me to another store. She made me try on and buy a dress that made my cheeks flush bright red. The shop owner had gritted her teeth and wrinkled her nose to keep from tackling me. I had to learn to keep my blood-flow at a minimum.

And then we were leaving. Jordan was chuckling about something, but my attention was on a large, brightly painted wagon. A man was standing in front of it, beaming and announcing something. I grabbed Jordan and pulled her over to look.

"--Ladies and gentlemen, if you please," the man said, making a flourish with his hand. Jordan snickered at the false aristocracy. "you all know what it's like to just want to stay home with your friends, don't you? One of the only problems with our existence is the time hunting takes from our lives!"

A shiver skittered up my spine, and Jordan frowned, her eyes narrowing.

"My friends," here the man smiled companionably at the crowd, "you know what stock is. But no-one seems to sell it anymore! No-one seems kind enough to share with their fellow blood-drinkers."

Jordan's upper-lip pulled back from her teeth, and her grip on my shoulder tightened. "Jane, come. This will only upset you..."

"But I _am_!" the man finally announced, yanking on a chain. A small girl stumbled over, her hands bound and her dark face grubby. Her eyes darted wildly around, and she pulled away. Jordan's fingernails were digging into my shoulder, but she wasn't dragging me away.

"Full blooded Mexican, my friends," he said, smiling brilliantly as the crowd leaned forward automatically.

"One little girl?" Jordan scoffed. The man frowned. "How much do you expect a self-respecting vampire to pay for a little girl?"

"A little girl who's never been touched." The man's smile returned to mock Jordan. Her eyes immediately flickered back to the girl. "That's right, my friends. Look at her arms: no cuts, no bite marks. Clean."

I was distinctly concious of one of Vanessa's bite marks on my thigh.

"Starting at five hundred dollars for the girl," the man called to the crowd. My ears were immediately assailed with bids.

Jordan and I stood rooted as one man quickly quieted the others with his high figures. The man with the girl smiled around at the audience, waiting to see if anyone else could beat the man's offer. Everyone was surly, looking away. Both men were smug, and the little girl quivered.

"Twelve hundred."

Jordan stared at me in horror. I stared at the man who was bidding, daring him to up the numbers. He just gaped at me.

"And the girl goes to the Miss, for twelve hundred dollars," the seller crooned smugly.

"What have you _done_, Jane?" Jordan moaned as I pushed through the quickly dispersing crowd. I didn't answer.

I handed the man, who introduced himself as Trigg, a check for twelve hundred dollars. I knew Benedikt had that much just tucked away in the kitchen drawers; there was definitely enough in any of his accounts. I knelt before the little girl, whose eyes were squeezed shut. There were tears rolling down her face.

"What's your name?" I murmured. Her eyes opened enough to squint at me.

"Carmen," she whispered.

"Carmen," I said. "I'm Jane. I'm taking you away from here."

She stared at me, and the corners of her thin lips twitched into a shy smile.

"That's good," she said. Then her body was shaking with sobs. "That's very good."

I folded her into my arms and carried her to the car. Once I was done settling her in and buckling her up, Jordan shoved me into the front seat. I was just about to close the door when we were suddenly rocketing out of the Underground. Jordan turned to glare fiercely at me.

"We are in so much trouble," she growled.


	7. Chapter 7

I held Carmen pinned to my side as we walked to the door at Chasecroft. Millecent was pacing the living room, and she turned to stare at us with ancient silver eyes.

"A friend of his was at the bidding. He's angry," she whispered to Jordan.

"I know," Jordan replied. Suddenly, she looked over Millecent's shoulder. "He's coming."

"Are you trying to drive him mad?" Millecent asked when she looked at me. Jordan had made me change into the blush-worthy black dress on the way. She said that it would make him pause long enough to let me explain.

"Jordan made me change," I said. "Carmen was my idea."

"We're tag-teaming it," Jordan said, seeming unable to not be a smart-ass.

"You're the devil."

We all looked up, and Carmen cowered against my side. I was more than willing to have an episode, myself.

Benedikt's glower was dark, yet fiery. His fists were clenched at his side. His shoulders were tight, and his upper lip was pulled up slightly. He had never seemed more like a vampire to me, even when he had nearly killed me.

Jordan stepped hesitantly forward. "Ben, please--"

"You shouldn't have brought her to the Underground anyway," he said. His voice was eerily calm. "She's mine and you had no right to even take her from the house. Go home, Jordan Dai."

Jordan's eyes narrowed. "You have no right to speak to me so diminutively, Benedikt Chasecroft."

"_Go, Jordan_," he growled. His burning eyes had never left mine. Jordan hesitated.

"The little girl's twelve years old, Ben," she murmured before she drifted back out the door. "Mercy."

Benedikt's eyes finally raked down my body to the hastily scrubbed face of Carmen. He stared at her, his eyes narrowing. She trembled.

"Don't scare her," I pleaded. His gaze snapped back to me, and he darted forward and grabbed me by the throat.

"_What for, Jane_?!" he demanded. Millecent had caught Carmen and was stroking her hair, trying to calm the weeping child down.

"Master Benedikt, please," she almost moaned. Benedikt held his hand out, palm facing her in a warding away gesture.

"Please, Benedikt," I breathed. My pulse was thudding against his cold fingers. My vision was blurring with tears. "Please, you'll scare her..."

Benedikt was silent, staring into my eyes. "Millecent, take... _Carmen_... to your room and clean her. I need to speak to Jane."

He didn't wait for her to answer. He dragged me up the stairs and into my room. I was coughing softly. He hadn't let go of my throat, and my vision was narrowing from lack of oxygen.

"What for, Jane?" he repeated, this time in a whisper. He let me go, and I tumbled onto my bed. I narrowly avoided the bedpost, which, if it hadn't impaled me, would've crushed my skull.

"She was so s-s-scared," I wept. "I couldn't leave her there--"

"Twelve hundred, Jane? For a little girl?" he pressed. His voice was cold, as calm as it had been when he was talking to Jordan.

"Please, Benedikt," I begged again. His head tipped to one side.

"Again," he murmured. "for a little girl. That's the second time that you've spoken to me by name, did you know that, Jane?"

I hadn't realized that until now. My lips quivered and my eyebrows drew together as I shook my head. He stared wordlessly at me. And suddenly I was so damn _angry_, so filled with burning rage and humiliation that I could _scream_. I stood quickly.

"She's going to stay," I said. And then I knew that if my dream vampire self had spoken, I would have sounded exactly like that.

"Excuse me?" he demanded.

"She's staying," I said.

"You don't seem to understand, Jane," he snapped. He had looked startled at my abrupt mood change, but now he was just angry. "Why do you think I'm upset? The money? I don't give a rat's ass about the money. There are two things high-ranking vampires have, Jane: money and _face_. You can give away money but you can never lose face."

He was mere centimeters away from me. I could've gone up on my tiptoes and nipped or kissed him, depending on my mood. I didn't really want either. Well, I didn't want to nip him.

"My stock wasted my money. Without telling me. Do you know how others can read that? They can assume, safely, that my household is out of control."

"That's all I am." I spat the next word bitterly. "Stock."

"That's _exactly _what you are, Jane." His fingers fisted themselves in the hair at the nape of my neck and he pulled my face a bit closer to his. "You can _never_ forget that. You're too low on the food-chain to forget that."

"All I bought was more stock for you," I said.

"Bought it out from someone who _wanted_ it," he said. "Yeah, I heard about _that_. What if he _really_ wanted the girl, Jane? Again with _face_. If he's pissed enough, if he wanted her enough, he could steal her. Then he would kill the one that made him lose face."

I blanched and shook my head as much as I could. "No. No."

"Yes." My hands had been resting on his chest in a long-forgotten effort to push him away. He used his free hand to capture my wrists and squeeze them punishingly between his cold fingers. "And if it came to that? He would be going for the girl. You'd be standing in front of the girl. Nathan would be standing in front of you. Millecent would be standing in front of him. James would be standing in front of her. And I would be standing in front of him."

"No," I breathed again, cringing away from the horrible picture he was painting.

"Yes," he repeated, with an eerie joviality to his voice. His teeth were bared in a mocking smile. "And it goes further. If Jordan wasn't standing in front of you, she'd be in front of me. Ashton would be in front of her. His friend Jenofonte would be standing in front of _him_. I could go on for ages, all the ancient alliances you could decimate because you _didn't want to scare Carmen_," he finished, his voice now as mocking as his smile.

I squirmed, fresh tears cascading down my face. "Oh, God, please, _stop_..."

His fingers tightened around the fragile bones in my wrist and I cried out. "You're _hurting_ me!"

"I'm _hurting_ you?" he snarled back. "Maybe you _should_ be hurt, Jane. Because I can tell, I can _see it in your eyes_, you still won't give Carmen up! I can describe, in detail, how he would rip Jordan apart, how he would tear Nathan to shreds, and you _still won't give her up_!"

Now he was shouting and I was flinching, my eyes shut tightly. "I'm not ruining everyone's lives for you! I'll kill you first!"

I was weeping uncontrollably, but the humiliated anger still blazed in my chest. "Then turn me and I'll kill him myself! _And when I'm done with him I'll come back for you_!"

And then I was flying. I smashed into the wall's oak panelling, shrieking with pain but miraculously uncut. I was back in Benedikt's arms, and my head was yanked back and he was at my throat.

My eyes closed easily, peacefully. My life could end, now, hopefully would end. Benedikt could keep Carmen, maybe. Or Carmen could run. I had a feeling that Benedikt wouldn't stop her from running. And if the other vampire turned up at Chasecroft, Benedikt could widen his flaming eyes and innocently reply, _Well, she ran, of course. She saw what I did to the stock I personally owned. What could I do to stock I couldn't care less about...?_

Benedikt's nose grazed my skin, and he sighed. "Jane..."

_Jane, I'm sorry, but you're a dumb fuck who must be eliminated. Happy New Year._

He lifted me, gently, tenderly, and carried me to the bed. He settled me down primly and pushed my hair back from my face. The look on his face reminded me of the look he had just before he had crushed the bridge rail, all those months ago. Like he was in pain. Jerk. _He_ hadn't just been thrown into a wall, had he?

He leaned down, then, resting his face against my shoulder, his nose brushing my collar bone. "I'm so sorry, Jane."

I twitched away. I wasn't scared, which didn't surprise me. In was _disgusted_, which was surprising.

"You're sorry, until Carmen gets loud or you think you need to apologize to me or I say your _damn name_. Then you're _not_ sorry," I accused. He looked up at me, his eyes imploring and irritatingly anguished.

"I know," he said. His lips were pursed, and his cheeks were pale. I wondered when he had last hunted. "These people... Millie and James and Nathan and Jordan... They're my family, Jane. I can't just... drop them and take care of your needs."

"My _needs_?" I hissed. My teeth were bared, a reaction I had picked up from hanging around angry vampires too much. "I don't _have_ needs!"

"You do, but you don't know it," he said. "You need food, but you forgot, because Rider never fed you. You need friends, but you forgot, because Vanessa never spoke to you. You need nice things, but you forgot because they didn't care."

"I need a noose," I spat. He flinched. I sat up, drawing myself quickly against the back-board. He pulled away slightly, but his eyes still seemed close in their sadness.

"Go _away_," I said. "Go away and leave me alone."

He stared at me wordlessly, and began to pull back. Then he hesitated, leaned forward--

And pressed his cool lips against my hair. I was too stunned to even widen my eyes.

"I'm still sorry," he murmured. Then, he disappeared out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Benedikt's Point of View**_

I paced the garden anxiously. I would go up. Actually apologize. Talk to her.

_Of course you aren't,_ an derisive voice in my head said. It sounded suspiciously like my elder brother, Augustine. _You're a stupid child, and you always have been..._

"Shut up," I muttered, pressing the heel of my palm against my throbbing head. "Fuck you, Gus."

The voice in my head was silent, and I continued to hesitate. Was one day too short? Twenty four hours?

_Twenty-five hours, sixteen minutes_, a voice in my head similar to Jordan's snickered. _But who's counting, Benni-baby-buddy?_

I hated it when she called me that. God, where the hell were these voices coming from?

_I need a noose_.

_I_

_need_

_a_

_noose!!_

I flinched away from her voice.

_Noose noose I need a noose._

Her voice, lovely and quiet, had been so harsh, so angry. My heart swelled with the sick feeling that Ashton had recently informed me was known as _puppy-love_. When I asked what that was like in later stages, grim Ashton laughed and told me to wait and see.

Bastard.

"Out of respect for Jordan, your death will be quick," I muttered dryly.

I looked up at the leaves, tracing each individual vein with my eyes. I counted each one, forgetting each number as soon as it was replaced. My gaze travelled down a trail of ants on the trunk.

Beneath the tree sat Carmen, staring at me with her soft brown eyes. I easily drifted towards her.

She was lankier than Nathan, but there was still a child-like quality to her body. Her eyes, however, were centuries old.

"Hey, you," I said. She stared at me.

"Hey," she echoed dimly. My fingers twitched. Was Jane like this as a child? What did they do to little children like this?

"How are you?" I asked, feeling loud and obnoxious in the peacful bubble Carmen had created for herself. Her lips just twitched into a tiny smile.

"Better," she said. "How are you?

I nodded, staring out over the gardens again. Then I returned my gaze to her, seeming unable to not look at her for extended periods of time. She didn't flinch away from me like she used to. I was pretty sure that one day soon, she'd be brave enough to stab me with a spork. The question was whether or not I'd care.

"Did they ever bite you, Carmen?" I mumured. She shrugged and nodded.

"Trigg's a liar," she said. I chuckled and folded myself onto the ground beside her.

"I wasn't turned, you know," I told her. She tipped her head to one side, signifying that she was listening. The silence was disturbingly nice.

"I was born like this," I said, gesturing to my pale, cold body. "Vampire females can't..."

I was overtaken with awkwardness, but Carmen calmly said, "Reproduce."

"Yes. But vampire males can. My mother was human. My father was a vampire. My and my older brother's births nearly killed her, because we were too strong." I stopped, and looked up at the liquid night sky. "But she never wanted to be turned."

"So she..." Carmen trailed off respectfully. I nodded.

"She died at the age of thirty. Humans didn't live very long back then, anyway, and the stress of living in the vampire world didn't help."

"Do you miss her?"

I looked back down quickly, bewildered. "What kind of question is that?"

"You don't think about her very often," she surmised. "What about your dad?"

I stared blankly at her, but she stared just as stoicly back.

"My father... disappeared after my mother died. He just... left," I said, looking back up at the stars. Why _was_ I thinking about my mother now, when I had managed to keep all her memories at bay all these years?

"What were your parent's names?" she asked.

"Elizabeth and Ignatius," I said before I could think. I stared at her, confused. Why was I saying this?

"Lizzie and Iggy." She smiled. "That's nice."

I opened my mouth to answer, or ask, but then I heard Millecent's voice from the door, which led directly from the gardens into the kitchens.

"You're invited to the marriage of Augustine Chasecroft and Natalia Creed--"

I plucked Carmen up and whisked her to Millie's side. "Finally?"

"Finally," the woman smiled, trading the invitation for the squirming and complaining Carmen. "He says in the letter that we all can come, so I would need to find something Jane can wear-- I'm not sure how, since she doesn't exactly like wedding colors, but I think we can find a compromise..."

I tried to ignore her as I read my brother's letter.

_Ben,_

_I know the only thing you'll do is mock me, but I want you to come to my and Tally's wedding anyway. It's been too long, brother ~ I feel as if we haven't spoken in centuries rather than mere years. Besides, I need a best man who won't try to jump the bride before the wedding. I hear that's almost always bad luck. Not that I have any experience with that sort of thing..._

_This is the point where you stop laughing._

I wiped the grin off my face.

_Anyway, Tally will throw a fit if you don't come. You know how she loves people ~ she needs you there, probably as much as I do. And yes, this translates as bring the others along, as well. They won't be without jobs, I swear! Millie will make sure Tally has everything under control, James will make sure I don't try and escape through a window, and Nathan will be as adorably Nathan as he can be. Also, Jordan and Ashton are welcome. I do need people on my side of the hall, you know?_

_Brothers forever,_

_Augustine_

_PS: I heard you came into possesion of a human named Jane. Truthfully, Ben, I would love to meet her._

I ignored the postscript and smirked at Gus's signature. It was positively brimming with curly-cues. I could picture him, grinning, squiggling as many curls as he could while keeping the script legible.

"What do you think, Master Benedikt?" Millie asked. I looked up at her.

"I'm sorry, Millie, I wasn't listening. I'm positive you're right, though," I said. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Carmen... Oh, child, where does all this dirt come from?"

"I roll in it for full coverage," I heard Carmen say before they disappeared into the house. I snickered before reluctantly turning my gaze to the postscript.

I would love. That was Augustine-ese for _do what I say and there will be no problems_. I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

"Gus and his loves," I muttered.

"Who and his whats?"

I nearly jumped, but managed to turn and stare impassively at Jane. "My brother and his bossiness, that's all."

"Brother?" Her eyebrows raised, and her grey-blue eyes were strange and flat above their deep purple bags. She had always seemed fragile, but this was fragility to a painful degree.

"Yes," I said.

"Vampires don't have children," she replied in that same, empty voice. The muscles in my arms tightened.

"Females can't," I corrected. "Their hearts aren't strong enough to support a life other than their own. Males don't have to worry about that sort of thing."

"So your mother was human."

"Yes."

She was silent, staring at the letter in my hand speculatively. Or, as speculatively as she could with those empty eyes.

"What's that for?" she asked. I held it up and looked at it, trying to ignore her stare.

"Augustine's getting married, finally. It's an invitation."

"Ah." She paused. "I'm going to have to wear something bright, aren't I?"

"Not necessarily," I said. "Millecent will probably just make you wear a little bit of bright color. She said something about compromise."

She drifted forward, silent as a ghost and just as pale. She looked at the invitation, then up at me. Her faint cherry scent made my mouth water longingly.

"So I can go?" she asked, her eyes seeming to slowly gain life.

"Of course," I said. The sound of buckling oak panels echoed in my mind as her eyes began to shine. "If you want to."

"Of course," she replied. I had leaned down a little to speak directly to her. She suddenly bounced on her toes and pressed her lips to mine.

Fire seemed to lance through me. My faint heart stuttered and thumped. And yet there her lips stayed, unmoving and content. I wanted so badly to grab her, crush her to me, but I made my movements deliberately slow and careful as I gently buried my fingers in her hair. Her skin was flushed, burning, and it warmed my hands. Her scent pulsed around me with each beat of her heart.

"Master Bene--"

Jane pulled away slightly, and we both turned, surprised. Nathan stared unhappily at me, and I could imagine how he must feel. _Whatever_, the low, vampire-voice inside me snarled with vindictive humor. _He's a little too little to be jealous._

"I'm sorry," he said slowly, his voice dragging a little. "I was just wondering where Jane was, but she... Alright. I'm sorry."

With that, he turned and disappeared. Jane reached one hand out to the spot he had vacated, her eyes sad. "Oh, Nathan..."

I buried my face in her hair, inhaling, my throat flaring with thirst. When had I last hunted? A month ago, at least. The vampire-voice, the one that had just mocked Nathan's little-boy love, moaned, wanting to sink its teeth into the delicate skin of Jane's throat. I ignored it.

She slowly pulled her hand back and rested it on my chest. She turned and pressed her face against me, her sigh hot on my shirt. I shuddered, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"Why are vampire's skin cold when they have a heartbeat?" she murmured, probably trying to forget Nathan's intrusion. Her hand slid up to my sternum, trying to feel the faint beat against her palm.

"Poor circulation, I suppose. The same way your fingers and toes are so cold in the morning," I said, taking her hand and pressing it more firmly against my chest, remembering her kiss. My heart stuttered and picked up pace. She smiled.

"And diabetics."

"What?"

"Diabetics," she explained. "They have poor circulation, so their fingers and toes are always cold."

I smiled. "Yes, I suppose that's right."

Her smile widened, and one of her hands slid up my neck and into my hair. I sighed and leaned a little closer to her, soaking up her warmth.

"My pretty diabetic vampire," she giggled, pressing her lips, once more, against mine.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Jane's Point of View**_

"Jordan--"

"Jane."

"Jordan, come on--"

"Jane, I'm not making you wear pink. I promise."

I made a face. I had both hands pressed against Benedikt's door, with Jordan on the other side. She _could _just push the door down, but both of us were sure that Benedikt wouldn't appreciate it. I was safe from any frilly colors.

"Jane, I can just go around using the door to your room," Jordan threatened.

Damn.

"That's locked," I bluffed, wondering if I could run over to my door, lock it, and run back in time to keep her from getting in.

"No, it isn't," she said, and I heard her walking over to my door that lead to the hall. I quickly locked Benedikt's hall door, then turned and bolted for the other one. Jordan was already there, grinning with her victory. I scowled and bent my legs slightly at the knees.

"You'll never take me alive," I swore. She laughed. Finally, I couldn't take anymore. I fell down, cackling.

"Look, Jane. I couldn't get anything made for you at Sen's, since it was so unexpected. She would never have time for anything really elaborate. So... I had to get you something... from Macy's."

Jordan wasn't, and still isn't, a shopping addict. She just loved beautiful, unique things. She loved the happy looks on people's faces when they saw beautiful things. She loved the knowledge that no one else had something quite like what she had. And she loved it when someone else had some nice thing that she didn't have. Jordan loved variety.

So from the sound of her voice, a lot of women already had the dress she was about to put on me. I sighed and smiled.

"Ah, Jordan. I know you'd never put me in something stupid on purpose," I said. "Let me see it."

She sighed, handing me a dress wrapped in plastic. "It's got black and white, so no one looks at you funny and you don't feel uncomfortable."

I unwrapped it and examined it thoroughly. She flopped onto Benedikt's bed. She didn't care if I disliked this dress. She hadn't put any effort into it.

"I could let you borrow one of my dresses, but they're too colorful for you. And you're a bit smaller in the hip and bust, you know? That's bad if you like sharing clothes."

"Yeah," I said, pressing this dress against me and looking at myself in a full-length mirror. The dress had a white bust with button detail, and the rest of it was black, even the spaghetti straps. It would do for a wedding.

"So, do you sleep in here, now?"

I looked up, my eyes wide with surprise. Jordan's gaze wasn't really sly, just amused. "N-No! Why would you think that?"

"When I came in holding the dress, you scurried to this room, not yours. I assumed that your room wasn't really... well, used by you, as of late."

"One day," I spluttered. "And yes, it is still my room. I just thought Benedikt would be here to protect me from you."

"Ouch," she said, grinning. I turned and ignored her, staring at my reflection. Suddenly, her amused face appeared next to mine.

"I'm kidding, Jane."

"It wasn't funny."

"It was to me. I like it when I make myself laugh."

I huffed out a breath. After a moment, Jordan did too.

"Put it on, Jane. We'll be leaving soon."

She disappeared. I pulled the dress on absently, trying to not think about thinking.

_I assumed your room wasn't really used by you, as of late._

_Of course, if you want to._

Jordan and Benedikt seemed to circle in my head. It was strange, but not really unpleasant. _Would _this be my room, now? Was I a Chasecroft, now?

I remembered after Nathan left. Benedikt had sat on the bed and I had stayed standing and our lips never broke apart. And that was as far as it all went.

"You're lovely."

Conversationally, with a smile in his voice. I turned and beamed at Benedikt, who was leaning against the door frame.

"Jordan had to buy it from Macy's," I said. He snickered and darted to my side, his arm around my waist as he led me out the door.

"Poor Jordan," he said. "The hardships that girl endures to keep you clothed. It warms the heart."

"I know, right?" Jordan said, appearing on my other side. Ashton was behind her, and he smiled at me.

"You should see her, shoving her way through Macy's," he said. "I'm sure the sales clerk needs therapy from now on."

"Look, I need what I want and--"

I smiled as the three vampires bantered all the way to the limo.

"Music, Master Benedikt?" James asked from the driver's seat. Nathan was sitting beside him, bouncing in his seat.

"I wanna touch the seat controls, I wanna touch the seat controls," he chanted. Carmen was silent, watching Nathan with a touch of envy.

"Anything," Benedikt said, leaning back and closing his eyes.

"Anything but Celine Dion," Ashton corrected. Benedikt's lips twitched.

"Yeah," he said. Jordan let out a verse of music, made lovelier by her perfect, soprano voice.

"Are you aware of what you make me feel... baby... right now I feel invisible to you, like I'm not real..." she sang. Benedikt and Ashton smiled, leaning forward to listen. Jordan glanced at me, and before I could stop, I finished the line.

"Didn't you feel me lock my arms around you? Why'd you turn away? Here's what I have to say..." I murmured. Benedikt and Ashton looked at me, and Jordan grinned, continuing.

"I was left to cry there, waiting outside there, sitting in the washed air..."

Jordan and I sang the whole ride. At the end of every song, Nathan would break into raucous applause. Millecent was looking very uncomfortable sitting next to me, occasionally twisting around to tell Nathan to quiet down, and no he could _not_ touch the seat controls. She didn't _care_ if he was two hundred and seventeen years old, he had the curiosity and ability to break things of an eleven year old boy. Carmen, however, _was_ allowed to touch the seat controls. She leaned her seat back and slept most of the way, snuggled against Benedikt's side.

When we stopped in front of the old but well-preserved cathedral, I raised my eyebrows at Benedikt. He smiled.

"There's nothing religious inside," he said when I didn't smile back.

"Where's the fun in that?" Jordan asked, darting to my side with a bright smile.

"That's a nice dress," I told her, surprised. "I hadn't noticed before."

Jordan wore a hurt expression, but held her hands out to give me a better view of the dress. It was built like the one she was wearing on that first night I saw her, but instead of dragons, there were twin Phoenixes rising from flames around the hem. The background was black, but the mythical birds and their pyres were blazing red and orange. Carmen reached out and stroked the glimmering needle-work, then looked up and smiled radiantly at Jordan.

"Lovely," I said. Benedikt came up to stand beside me, resting his hand on the nape of my neck.

"Come, Jane," he said. Jordan reached out to take Ashton's hand, pulling him into the cathedral.

"Darling," she crooned happily.

I closed my eyes and smiled as we stepped inside.


	10. Chapter 10

The only words I can use for a vampire marriage ceremony are hauntingly beautiful.

There were maybe twenty people there. Augustine stood out, a full head taller than the rest of the assembly, with wild black hair and glowing crimson eyes. They were a bit of a lighter shade than Benedikt's, but they still shone with that mad, proud light. A young (looking) woman was always at his side, her soft green eyes glittering and her long auburn hair flowing to her lower back.

"So lovely to see you again, Natalia. Gus," Benedikt grinned, reaching out his hand. Augustine grinned triumphantly and clasped his wrist.

"And this is Jane?" he asked, smiling down at me. I smiled shyly back, and Jordan suddenly laughed.

"Hug me, bitch," she said, reaching out to Natalia, who laughed and enfolded her in a hug.

"You whore," she answered, her Southern accent slight but definitely there. "I missed you."

"Ashton," Augustine said, smiling at Jordan's mate, who smiled back.

"Heath, my darling! Let us go and have a grand seduction," Jordan cried happily, waving manically at the vampire across the room. "I'd say it in French, but then I'd just sound like an asshole."

"And you'd never sound like an asshole, Jordan Dai," Heath answered. The rest of the crowd laughed.

"It's lovely to meet you, Jane," Natalia murmured, as Jordan flounced away with Ashton trailing behind her. Her eyes glowed as she smiled at me.

"The same, I'm sure," I said, reaching my right hand out. She took it, squeezing gently and kindly. Benedikt's arm was wrapped around my waist, and she smiled at it.

"Tally and I have to be getting ready," Augustine said, looking up at Benedikt. "You all can mingle or sit, whichever you prefer."

"My puddin' lurves me," Natalia said, giggling. Benedikt raised an eyebrow, but Augustine just laughed and shook his head.

"Go do something, Tally," he said. "You'll have less weird-time."

"Agreed," she answered, turning and gliding away.

We all sat down after a while, and Benedikt disappeared with his brother.

Then, the ceremony actually started.

There was a violin and a piano playing. The piano hummed out its eerie melody, with the violin echoing and embellishing it. Augustine and Natalia sat at the front of the dim room, crosslegged. Benedikt stood behind his brother, and a girl I didn't recognize stood behind Natalia. Benedikt had his hand on Augustine's shoulder, as if he was keeping him down, and the girl was doing the same to Natalia. I ached to ask Jordan what the symbolism was, but the entire room was absolutely silent, save for the musicians.

"I promise to never leave you," Augustine said.

"I promise to never lie," Natalia said.

"I promise to always hold your hand."

"I promise to never cry."

"I swear that I won't hurt you, or make you shed a tear."

"I swear that I won't walk away during dry harvest years."

"I'll love you forever."

"I'll hold you for always."

The couple's hands now entwined, and they murmured the last words in unison. "And I'll never let you go."

Benedikt and the other girl stepped away, and Augustine grinned his triumphant grin.

"Finally," Nathan said, his eyes widening when he realized how loud his voice was. The rest of the assembly burst into laughter and applause. Augustine and Natalia stood up sinuously, their eyes never leaving each other.

"Lovely, isn't it?" Jordan asked excitedly, standing as she pulled me up and over to the couple.

It had all been so lovely. The words seemed to brand themselves onto my brain, and the music flowed hauntingly through my thoughts.

Jordan flaunted me to everyone, and finally I got to sit down. I was chuckling with a woman whose white eyes sent shivers down my spine, despite her friendly nature. But Jordan called her away from her seat ("Tabitha! Dance with me, bitch!") and I was left by myself, which wasn't altogether bad.

"It was very nice," said a whispery voice. I jumped, startled, as a frail-looking man sat down beside me.

He wasn't _old_looking, per se. But his skin seemed wan, clinging gently to his bones. His hair was thick, black, and healthy, though, and his black eyes glowed strongly.

"My wife would have enjoyed it very much," he continued, a smile twitching onto his face. "Beth enjoyed simplicity. I'm very sorry that she wasn't here to see it."

I blinked a few times, unsure of what to say. His obsidian eyes flickered to the drink I was nursing.

"You must be Jane," he said. "I'm afraid that I have heard little about you, but pleased that most of it was good. You're with Benedikt, aren't you?"

"With?" I asked, my voice slipping up a few octaves. "No, no, not with, I mean, I _live _with, but I'm not _with _with. With?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Your verbiage impresses even me, Jane."

"Well, you caught me off guard!" I said defensively. "With your... withness."

He rolled his eyes. Then he looked at me, his expression ancient and serious.

"I'm very happy that he has you. I'm very happy that Augustine has Natalia. I'm even glad that Ashton has Jordan, no matter how strange she can be. I'm very... proud. I think that's how I am." He stared musingly at my drink. "Beth would be proud. I'm sure that Beth would love you and Tally. But I can never be sure, can I?"

He suddenly stood and disappeared, bolting away.

"Wait!" I blurted a full second after he was gone. I shook my head and looked back at my drink.

"_Well_, isn't it just _lovely_ to see you here, _Jane_."

The blood froze in my veins and my mouth popped open. My grip on my glass tightened, until my knuckles were white. I looked up slowly.

Vanessa smirked at me, with Rider brooding behind her.

"Leave me alone! Get out of here, I never want to see you again!" I shrieked.

Well, that's what I tried to shriek. I managed a couple of vowel-consonant combonations, but pretty much froze up from there.

"We just felt like visiting the lucky couple," Vanessa went on in her whiny voice. "I never even _dreamed_ that you would be here!"

Rider rolled his eyes, obviously bored by her lie.

"... Natalia... invited you?" I managed to say. She tossed her hair and waved her hand. _Pshaw_.

"No, we weren't invited! We just felt the urge to drop in, say hi," she insisted. "But it is _very _interesting to see you here. Benedikt brought you?"

I nodded, my lips a thin line.

"Interesting," Vanessa repeated, staring at me with her probing yellow-green eyes. "So how are you, Jane? How long has it been? Six months?"

"Seven and a half months."

Vanessa and Rider looked up, their lips pulling back slightly from their teeth. Benedikt's hand was on my shoulder, his jaw tight. Warmth thawed the ice in my blood.

"May I ask how you came to be here?" he asked. Vanessa didn't answer.

"Just an urge to visit," Rider said easily. "We brought a friend along, as well, maybe you know--"

"You!"

The vampire from the auction was here. And he looked very angry.

"Where's Carmen?" I gasped to Benedikt, struggling against his protecting hand.

"Millie had her," he said, but his voice was unsure. The other vampire was quivering, his malachite green eyes locked on me, his teeth bared in a silent snarl.

"Darius, meet Jane," Rider said cheerfully. "Jane, this is Darius."

Darius and I stared at each other. Benedikt's fingers were digging into my shoulder.

"Lovely to meet you, Darius," Augustine said, stepping forward. The entire party was grouped behind me, twitching and nervous. Natalia's eyes were narrowed.

"Vanessa. I don't recall inviting you or your friend," she said in a clipped tone. "It's rather rude to crash parties, don't you agree?"

Vanessa just beamed, the cat who just killed the canary. I figured she was the kind of cat who would, in all honesty, brutally mutilate the poor damn bird.

"Leave now," Augustine said.

"As in, _right now_," Benedikt said through his teeth, but Jordan reached forward and grabbed his arm, restraining.

Darius and I hadn't broken eye contact throughout this whole thing. I could see the horrible scenario that Benedikt had laid out for me two days ago burning behind his green eyes. He could probably lean forward and grab me. If Benedikt tried to pull him off, my head would probably go with him. I could picture the other vampires quivering, aching to lick the blood from my headless corpse.

I cringed back in my seat, and Benedikt's grip on my arm tightened. His nails were biting into my flesh. _Please_, I thought. _Please, for godsakes, don't break the fucking skin..._

"Of course," Rider said, and Vanessa nodded demurely. "We try not to be where we're not wanted."

"No!" Darius snarled. "No!"

He leaned forward. Benedikt snarled, pulling me up out of my seat and behind him in an instant. My chair clattered to the floor. Rider and Vanessa slipped from the room, smirking.

"Now, now." The black-eyed vampire I had just been talking to appeared out of nowhere, standing between Benedikt and Darius. "This is a party, friend."

Benedikt straightened abruptly, his burgundy eyes wide and his mouth an O of shock. Augustine's jaw dropped.

"Ignatius," Jordan breathed, straightening.

"Dad," Augustine said.

I looked up sharply at Benedikt's face, then at the vampire's. Their features, I saw now, were almost exactly alike.

"I think," Ignatius continued, smiling easily at Darius. "That is would be best if you went home, son."

Darius continued to glare at me, though, and I suddenly felt Carmen's little hand sneaking into mine. I squeezed her fingers comfortingly. She was too far behind me for Darius to see, but I pushed her back even farther.

Darius stood up, then. I could see he wanted to say some tacky villain line ("This isn't over," "I'll be back," yadda yadda) but he instead turned on his heel and disappeared out the door. There was a moment of silence.

"Well, that was exciting," Ignatius finally said, smiling easily.

"Dad!" Benedikt sputtered.

"And you said you never saw him," Carmen said softly.

"Dad!" Benedikt repeated.

"I approve of Jane. She's a lovely girl," Ignatius said, smiling sadly at his son. "I'm sure your mother would have loved her."

"Dad?" Augustine asked.

"Dad," Benedikt confirmed.

"Whoa," Augustine said.

"Natalia, lovely to meet you," Ignatius said, taking Natalia's hand delicately and smiling. Then he chuckled. "Isn't that just the vampire catch-all? Lovely?"

"It is a lovely word," Natalia agreed.

Ashton smiled, his lips pulling back rather eerily over his glittering teeth. "Ignatius."

"Ashton," he replied. He clasped hands with Ashton, then grinned. He looked a lot like Augustine when he did that. "_Lovely_ to see you again."

"We do need a new word," Jordan said musingly. Then she beamed, leaping forward to wrap Ignatius in a hug. "We've missed you so much, Iggy."

"I asked you not to call me that." His voice was doting, though, and he stroked her hair with content, fatherly love.

"And I asked you not to leave. What're you gonna do?" Her charming face soured. "You didn't have to go. Stay, this time."

"Ben, Gus," Ignatius said, maneuvering out of her grasp. He held his hand out, his face hopeful and sad. "Boys?"

Augustine came forward immediately, enfolding his father in a tight hug. He must have said something, because Ignatius chuckled sadly and smiled.

"Missed you too," he said, almost inaudibly.

Benedikt was rooted, his hand tightening, then loosening, then tightening on my wrist. Rhythmically. Desperately. My bones were grinding together under his convusling fingers, but I was silent. His body somehow got impossibly tighter when his father looked at him. I saw the look that passed between him and his father, and I saw Benedikt's jaw clench.

"Benedikt?" Ignatius asked. Augustine pulled away, and his eyes were deliriously happy. That made Benedikt's hand twitch and tighten around my wrist.

"What?" he asked indifferently. Augustine's lips pulled back in a grisly snarl.

"Ben!" he snapped. Benedikt met his gaze coldly, bitterly. Ignatius's wan face crumpled sadly, his black eyes agonized.

"Benedikt, please," he murmured. The other vampires had backed away, slightly unsettled by the sudden frustration. Ignatius held out a hand to his son, and Benedikt stared at it.

I pulled my wrist out of his grasp and looked up at him. He looked down at me, and his eyes were burning angrily. I looked at Ignatius's hand, then back up at Benedikt's face.

"Benedikt," I said, my voice soft. He seemed to cringe away from me. "Benedikt, hug your father."

He scowled down at me. I took his hand and pulled him forward slightly. I saw Ignatius tremble, and his eyes brighten slightly.

"When was the last time you saw him?" I asked.

"When was the last time he visited?" he snapped at me, tugging his hand away slightly, but not enough to break my grip. I tightened anyway.

"When was the last time you went looking for him?" I countered. His scowl disappeared, replaced with a look of hurt confusion. I took the opportunity to tug him a closer to Ignatius.

"You get to see your father," I told him. "You should be happy."

"I'm. Not. Happy," he ground out. "I'm _angry_."

"I'd be happy," I said. He winced slightly.

"He left," he said, his voice low. His hurt was palpable. I reached up and pushed my fingers through his hair, pulling his head down to press my cheek against his.

"But he came back," I pointed out. His hands were now on my waist, and he clutched at me desperately. He looked over my shoulder, then he eased me away. He stepped gingerly to his father and wrapped his arms around him, under the still seething Augustine's careful supervision. Ignatius buried his face in Benedikt's shoulder, his entire body relaxing. Benedikt seemed to give up then, and his body slackened and his arms tightened around his father.

"I'm so sorry, Ben, I'm so sorry," Ignatius muttered. Carmen was beaming, her dark face glittering like bronze in the sun.

"Are you gonna stay?" she asked excitedly. She reached out and grabbed Nathan's hand, tugging him forward. Nathan's electric eyes widened in surprise. Ignatius chuckled and pulled away from Benedikt to kneel before the little girl.

"What's your name?" he asked. Carmen pulled Nathan further forward.

"I'm Carmen. This is Nathan. We're part of the itty bitty vampire committee."

Ashton snorted and Jordan began practically screaming with laughter. Natalia hid her mouth behind her hand, but her bright, lovely eyes were glittering.

"Indeed?" Ignatius said, in utmost seriousness. "Are you two merely participants, or did you found this... committee? How itty bitty must you be to be eligible to join?"

Carmen's big grin faded, and her brow furrowed.

"I founded it," Nathan offered. "Carmen's the treasurer."

"I'm the one who chases them with a broom," Millecentsaid. She beamed (yes, beamed; she hardly ever smiled around the house, and here she was, grinning like a normal person) and she reached out to give Ignatius a hug. "It's been too long, Ignatius."

"How are you, Millie?" he asked. "Is the estate intact? How is the garden, James?"

He reached out to shake James's hand.

"Everything is perfect. It'll be even better when you're back," James replied, smiling. Ignatius released James and shook Nathan's hand, then bent down to give Carmen a peck on the cheek. Then he looked up at me, his dark eyes shining. He ghosted forward and hugged me tightly.

"Thank you," he breathed. "Thank you so much, child."

He pulled away, and I smiled. Benedikt appeared behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Pleased to meet you," I said. "I'm sure it'll be great for you to be back."

Ignatius didn't answer, just turned to hug Natalia. Then he looked back at Augustine, smiling.

"It was so public, I was surprised. These things are usually small."

"There was enough room for more people," Augustine said, gesturing to the cathedral in its stark glory. There was nothing religious in it. The stained glass windows were deep purples, greens, and reds. The alcoves that should have held statues of saints were lined with velvet curtains and flaunting blood-red roses, snowy calla lilies, black hollyhock and deep purple tulips.

"You're still an arrogant jerk," Jordan said. "These things are usually just the couple. Not that I'm complaining, because, you know, I was invited. I can forgive you if I'm invited."

"Oh, good," Augustine said. "I was worried."

Jordan glanced back at me with a grin. "Damn right. Fear me."

"I'm afeared," Natalia volunteered, leaning back against Augustine. "Shaking in my boots."

"I want some celery," Carmen cried suddenly. We all turned to look at her, and she turned to Nathan with her hand held out.

"Five bucks," she said smugly. Nathan muttered incoherently and handed over a bill. Benedikt snickered.

"Alright, folks, time to dance," Natalia said, clapping her hands at the musicians. "Don't make me go bridezilla on you."

Ignatius took Carmen's hand, and they sat down, apart from the dancers. Nathan went to sit with them. I started to walk over, as well, but Benedikt kept his grip on my waist.

"Dance with me," he murmured in my ear. I hesitated, remember what Nathan had told me about dancing with vampires: _A human would die in their arms._

"Trust me," he said.

And I did.

He pulled me onto the dance floor, amongst misty dancers. But rather than whisk me about, rather than fly with the others, he placed his hands on my waist and slowly rotated with me. I leaned forward and rested my head against his chest. The music murmured around me, and Benedikt's scent flooded my head. I heard his faint heartbeat, deep in his chest. I looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back, but something seemed... wrong to me. His face was too white. I reached up and touched his pale, cool cheek.

"When was the last time you fed?" I asked, my voice chiding. "You shouldn't wait so long between meals."

He made a face. "Says the blood bank."

"Seriously though. What if you can't take it anymore, and you just snap? Then what?" I pressed. He rolled his eyes.

"Then I go out," he said.

"Then what am I here for?" I teased. He gave me a look.

"You think I need to drink?" he asked. "Fine."

Suddenly we were flying through the crowd, out the door, into the cool night air. He pinned me against the wall and lowered his head to my throat. I stiffened up inadvertently, and felt his smirk against my jugular.

"What?" he purred. His lips trailed up to just under my ear. "Something wrong?"

"Smart-ass," I muttered. I tried to pull away, but the wall impeded my movement. Benedikt pressed up closer against me. My heart was slamming against my ribs, and I had a suspicion that he could feel it through his stone chest. He fisted his hands in my hair. I reached up and gripped the front of his dress shirt, pulling him closer. His lips traced over my jaw and paused at the corner of my lips. Instead of turning into it, though, I pulled away. He looked at me, his eyes frustrated. I looked up at him solemnly. Then I grinned and lunged forward, pressing my lips firmly against his. He sighed, and his hands pulled me up harder against him.

To save you all some detailed agony, I'll skip ahead five minutes.

He was sitting on a stone bench, one hand in my hair and the other hand on my hip. His lips were still moving slowly against mine, but finally he pushed my head away and pulled me onto his lap. I leaned against his chest again, and he rested his chin on my head. We had our arms wrapped around each other, and I was contemplating how messed up my life was. I had a warped love affair with the vampire that wanted to eat me, and the vampire wedding rite was running through my head.

Why did I love him, though? I tried to make sense of it. My thoughts and feelings used to be so simple, dammit.

Because he was so sad, and I wanted to make him happy?

Because he's so wild and chaotic that I have to keep him in check?

Because I need him to bring me out of the deadness I had felt for five years?

Because when I'm with him I can ask any question, voice any thought, and he will answer me?

I didn't know.

"I promise to never leave you," Benedikt said.

My blood froze, then thawed, almost instantaneously. I looked up at him. His eyes were serious, his expression raw and pleading. I reached up and touched his cheek, still pale, and felt a hint of frustration. Could I help him?

"I promise to never lie," I replied.

"I promise to always hold your hand."

Would he listen to me?

"I promise to never cry."

Could I help _myself_?

"I swear that I won't hurt you, or make you shed a tear."

How could this possibly work out?

"I swear that I won't walk away during dry harvest years."

What about Darius?

"I'll love you forever."

Was I hurting Benedikt by saying yes?

"I'll hold you for always."

How could I keep us safe?

"And I'll never let you go."

His lips met mine. And at that moment, the only time ever, in my entire life before, I wanted to be a vampire. I wanted him to kiss me without having to hold back. I wanted to be able to keep Carmen from Darius, I wanted Darius as far away from Benedikt as possible. And at that moment, for the first time ever, I was truly, honestly, and blissfully happy.


	11. Chapter 11

I rolled over in bed, reaching my arm out searchingly. Benedikt's hand caught it and pulled me closer. I lifted my head groggily, smiled at him, then looked around. My dress was crumpled up-- on the other side of the room. Most of his clothes were there too. I tried to sit up, then slumped back down onto the soft mattress. I scowled, and Benedikt chuckled.

"I can't feel my legs," I complained. His arm tightened around me.

"Good," he replied. I laughed.

"Where is everybody?" I asked. He shrugged, and his wild, burning eyes closed. His lips were curved up in a soft smile.

"I don't know. And quite frankly, I only care where you are, right now."

I kissed under his jaw and smiled against his skin. It was warm, now, from being against mine for so long.

"I love you," I said. His eyes opened, and they blazed as he looked at me.

"You have no idea how much I love you," he replied. I closed my eyes again. I could hear faint bustle from downstairs, and occasionally a ringing laugh.

"Who's down there?" I asked.

"Tally and Gus. Nathan and Carmen are hanging out in Carmen's room. Millecent and James are chatting with... with my father."

I frowned as he stumbled over his words. "He still loves you."

"Then why would he leave me?" he demanded, his voice harsh. I cringed, and my eyes automatically watered. We were so happy five seconds ago...

Benedikt winced when he saw the look on my face, then set to petting my hair. "I'm sorry, Jane."

I leaned against his chest, selfishly satisfied. "It's alright. It's just..." I hesitated. Just what?

"What?" he asked, his hand pausing on my hair. I sighed against his bare skin.

"My parent's are dead. I can never see them again," I pointed out. He took a deep breath.

"Would you want to see them again?" he asked cynically. "They handed you over."

My eyes tightened, and I pulled away to glare at him. He stared stoically back at me.

"Yeah. They gave me to Rider. Rider gave me to you," I said. "I'd want to see them again. The end result would make even my mother smile."

His stiff posture relaxed, and he smiled. I smiled back, then sat up. He grabbed ahold of my wrist and made a face.

"Where are you going?" he whined. I giggled, then pulled myself out of his grip and picked up a fluffy black robe.

"I," I said, wrapping the robe around me as his face got more frustrated. "am going to go out and see what Nathan and Carmen are doing. I'm not quite sure I trust the itty bitty vampire committee. Then I am going to go downstairs, hang out with your brother and sister-in-law--"

"He's your brother-in-law, now, you know," he pointed out, somewhat smugly. "You have to put up with him just as much as I do."

"What?" came the wild shriek from downstairs.

"Fuck," Benedikt and I said in unison.

Jordan exploded through the door like Bugs Bunny on steroids.

"Dammit, Jordan, that was my door!" Benedikt snarled, straightening up in bed and pointing an imperious finger at the new hole. "You're paying for that!"

"Bill me!" Jordan snapped. "What the hell?"

She was staring at me, her slanted copper eyes wide and shocked. "Jane!"

"What?" I demanded defensively. "That's what you get for going home to have sex before saying goodbye to me."

"I'm the last to know?" Jordan asked, indignant. "I'll become a flipping nun."

"What?" came Ashton's mortified voice from downstairs. Benedikt snickered. Jordan's eyes flicked to him, and she bared her teeth in a snarl.

"I _hate_ you," she said. Benedikt's jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"_You_ hate _me_? You broke my door!" he snapped. Jordan abruptly grinned.

"Then we're even," she said merrily. "So... how was the honeymoon?"

I made a choking noise. It was supposed to be a curse word, but it got a little lost in translation.

"The honeymoon, Jordan," Benedikt said, smiling slyly. "The honeymoon, was absolutely none of your business."

Jordan sniffed. "Whatever. You're talking to me, Benedikt. I can _smell_ that it was interesting."

"Go _away!_" I laughed, giving her a push. "I'm going to see the itty bitty vampire committee."

"You're leaving me?" Benedikt asked, his eyes wide and hurt. "Jordan's gonna _hurt_ me."

I looked between them: Jordan, petite, barely five foot five, and Benedikt, muscular, about six foot seven.

"You're right. Jordan, if my husband," I gloated over the word, "is damaged in any way, shape, or form by the time I get back, I'll make you pay."

Jordan started to smile, but then I added, "Including psychological. You can't breathe on him, or stare at him for extended periods of time. You know it's weird when you do that."

"Which is why I do it," Jordan whined. I grinned, then turned and pressed my lips against Benedikt's. Benedikt pushed Jordan's probing face away, then kissed me back tenderly. I finally had to pull away, then stepped through the hole Jordan had smashed through the mahogany door. I heard Benedikt's voice, low and threatening, "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you. My door had nothing to do with anything." I giggled as I walked to Carmen's door. I paused, then giggled again. Barely eight months had passed. I could see the old me, like a ghost, like a shadow. I slept with tears running down my face. I cringed as I walked, afraid to be touched, afraid to be seen. I slept whenever Rider and Vanessa let me sleep. And now here I was. I slept with a smile, whenever I wanted to. I walked with my head up, smiling at the people I knew, the people I loved. Everything had changed.

"Come in," Carmen called serenely before I could raise my hand to knock. I raised an eyebrow, but walked in.

"Hello, Jane," Nathan said. He was sitting on Carmen's neutral pink comforter, the little girl's head resting in his lap. Carmen smiled at me.

"Hi."

"Good evening," I said, smiling.

"Do you think Benedikt will buy me another chair?" she asked. Nathan rolled his eyes.

"You already have five," he said. "You don't even know that many people."

"I can meet that many people," Carmen said defensively. "I wasn't even talking to you. Be quiet."

Nathan bobbed his eyebrows at me in a sort of facial shrug, but stayed silent. I sat down across from them, grinning.

"You two. Arguing like an old married couple. It's charming."

"What about the young married couple?" Nathan countered before Carmen could say anything. "What's it like for you, Jane?"

I couldn't stop my grin from splitting even wider. "You have no idea, Nathan. It's amazing."

"No, I suppose I don't," Nathan said, running his fingers idly through Carmen's hair. "Millie made us sleep on the other side of the house because she didn't want us to interrupt anything."

"I didn't get it, and Nathan wouldn't tell me," Carmen said, sitting up abruptly and glowering at me. "Were you two reproducing?"

Nathan grinned, and that is the only time I ever wanted to cause the little vampire pain.

"Sort of," I said. "You two wanna see the hole Jordan made in Benedikt's door?"

"Heck yes!" Carmen cried excitedly. She swung up, leaping off the bed like a bouncy ball. Nathan was at the door before her feet hit the ground. I smiled as Carmen's chocolate eyes narrowed.

"That's not fair," she said, her voice low and threatening. Then she shot forward, flying like a dark comet towards the pale little vampire. Nathan, smiling, stepped to the side, and Carmen soared through the doorway.

"Hey!" she cried indignantly. I laughed, then caught Nathan's shoulders. He tautened up reflexively, and I remembered what Benedikt had said to me about the child fighting rings.

"Watch as I kick this kid's butt," I said to Carmen, tilting Nathan back slightly so he could see the playful smile on my face. His electric blue eyes glittered, and he looked back at the little girl.

"Watch as I throw this chick through a wall," he said, maneuvering and lifting me into the air.

"How the hell'd you do that?" I demanded, squirming. He just laughed.

"Uh-oh," Carmen laughed. I crossed my arms and glared at her.

"I can still take him. He just caught me off guard. I still _own_ him," I insisted. Nathan set me down.

"Yes. I was just lucky. I don't stand a chance in a fair fight," he said, his small face solemn. Then he grinned. "A fair fight being, you know, me without arms and her with a really big gun."

"Yeah, you know, because I always fight like that," I said, rolling my eyes and straightening out my robe. "You guys want to see that hole or what?"

"Yeah," Carmen said, taking Nathan's hand and heading down the hall. "Nathan could hear it, he told me it was loud."

I chuckled. "Well, it was pretty messy."

Carmen and Nathan stopped in front of the hole. Carmen's mouth was agape, and Nathan laughed.

"Look! It's Jordan shaped!" the little girl cried, waving her hand frantically at it. "That's so cool!"

"No... It's just like a vaguely Jordan shaped thing was shoved through it," Nathan said. Carmen grinned.

"Look! I think that's her hand!" she said, pointing upwards. "Lift me up so I can see better."

Nathan silently obliged, reaching down and grabbing her by the ankle, then wrapping his arm around her knee and lifting her easily into the air. Carmen didn't even wobble as she traced the shattered outline. Nathan jiggled her slightly.

"Don't cut yourself," he chided. "You might bleed."

She huffed impatiently. "Don't shake me or I'll fall."

"Yeah, right," Nathan laughed. "I can hold you by the heel and you won't fall."

"Yeah, yeah, you're amazing. Shut up," Carmen ordered. Nathan looked back at me.

"She's bossy," he said. "Why'd you have to save her?"

I shrugged and laughed as Carmen tossed her curly hair.

"She saved me because I'm amazing," she said. "Look, put me down, you can make out her wedding ring."

"Nuh-uh," Nathan said, setting her down. "Let me see."

Carmen stepped back, and Nathan leapt at the door. He caught onto the molding and hung there, swinging like a monkey, staring intently at the hole.

"No," he finally said. "You're crazy."

"You're a monkey," she countered impatiently. Benedikt suddenly appeared in the hole. He looked up at Nathan, then down at Carmen.

"He was much shorter the last time I saw him," he said. Nathan scowled, still holding onto the molding.

"Hey, do you know what it's like to be a big person on the inside and a little person on the outside? Only midgets understand me, Benedikt."

"Hey, where's the term of respect, kid, the Master Benedikt? What happens when you can't live here anymore?" Benedikt said. Nathan sniffed and dropped to the ground.

"Jane will hire me back. Besides, you like me too much to get rid of me."

Benedikt glowered at him, then grinned. "Yes. That's true."

"I mean, I love this kid," Jordan said happily, sweeping Nathan up in her arms despite his loud protests. "Nathan, you are so portable."

"Put me down!" he snapped, wriggling like an angry cat. Carmen charged, latching onto Jordan's leg.

"I got 'er! I got 'er!" she cried excitedly. I had gone quickly to Benedikt's side, and was leaning against him as I watched them: Carmen, the child, Jordan, the child at heart, and Nathan, the child on the outside.

"Ashton! Ashton! I'm covered in midgets!" Jordan screamed, trying to shake Carmen off her leg and ending up only making the girl dizzy. Benedikt kissed my cheek, and I turned to press my lips against his.

"Eww..." Carmen cried, looking at us. Jordan dropped Nathan. Nathan plucked Carmen up easily, then they disappeared. I could hear Carmen's delighted peals of laughter as Nathan sped away. I laughed, but Benedikt pulled me back against him.

"Horny and demanding, much?" Jordan demanded snobbishly. She turned and flounced away. "Jesus."

"I'm having a few more moments with my wife before I go on an errand," he called after her, but her only reply was an airy laugh. I grumbled.

"What errand?" I whined. He chuckled, brushing his cheek against mine.

"Hunting," he said easily. "Have to keep the human population in check, you know."

"Hey! Am I no longer good smelling?" I demanded, holding my wrist up for him to see. "What's my purpose here, Benedikt?"

"Your purpose is to stay here and love me," he said, taking my hand and pressing it to his heart. He nibbled playfully against my neck, and I laughed.

"That's a job in and of itself. I should be getting payed."

"No, because that would be prostitution, not matrimony," he countered. I sighed, kissed him again, then pushed him away.

"Come home soon, alright?" I said. He smiled.

"Of course," he promised. He walked past me, pressing a final kiss against my cheek, then disappearing like a ghost. I was left there, standing and smiling like a fool.

And did it matter to me one bit? No.

I went down in the kitchen. The other happy newlyweds were sitting at the kitchen table, their heads together as they spoke quickly, in a language I didn't understand.

"Hey, what are you two saying?" I asked, picking up a slice of french bread, which Millecent had once sniffily told me was less French than french fries.

"Kinky things," Augustine said, pulling back to smile at me.

"We're bad kids," Natalia agreed. With her accent, she pronounced bad 'bayid.' She was wearing a simple but pretty jade halter top. There was a muted but persistant jingling noise. I was looking around for it, but then Natalia stuck her leg out for my inspection. She was wearing cowboy boots and spurs, and when she jiggled her foot, the spurs rang like little bells.

"Why do you have those?" I laughed, sitting beside her husband. Her eyes lit up frighteningly, and she grinned.

"I'll show you when you're turned," she said, pulling her leg back. I felt a shiver go up my spine, but I just smiled.

"Fair enough."

Augustine gave Natalia a look, and she stared back with wide-eyed angel innocence.

"We were just talking about you and Ben," he said. "In Italian."

"Oh." I chewed on my bread. "What were you saying?"

They laughed.

"If we wanted to tell you, we would have said it in English," Augustine said.

"I'm just glad I got the mild brother," Natalia said. "You got the selfish, violent, messy brother."

"But he's so pretty," I said with utmost seriousness. They stared at me for a moment, their eyes widening in confusion and mild concern. I finally grinned. "Bonus, he loves me, and I love him."

Natalia laughed merrily, and Augustine rolled his eyes and smiled.

"True," he said after a moment, his tone musing. "I've never seen him look like that."

"Like what?" Natalia asked before I could. Augustine glanced at me, then turned and grinned at his wife.

"_Come è stato colpito con un mattone_," he said. Natalia burst into hysterical laughter. I glowered.

"What?" I demanded. "What did you say?"

"_So, destra_?" Natalia said to Augustine. "I can see where you could get that!"

"_Get what?!_" I cried, my brow puckering in frustration. "What are you saying?"

"He said Benedikt looks like he got hit in the head with a brick," Natalia said delightedly. I scowled at the sputtering Augustine.

"Hey, I said it in Italian for a reason!" he said, glaring at the giggling woman.

"I had to share! It was so funny."

"Well, _I_ don't think it's funny," I sniffed, standing up. "I'll go hang out with some cool people."

"Like who? Crazy Asian, or the fiesty midget?" Augustine mocked.

"Hey, how old was Nathan when he was turned? Eleven? He's pretty tall for a body so young," I said defensively. I had never noticed how much shit Nathan had to take from the others.

"He's older than me," Natalia murmured, her lips puckering into a frown. "I think it's really sad."

"And you said you got the nice brother," I said irritably. They both laughed as I walked away.

"Jane!" Carmen was out in the gardens. "Come play hide-and-seek with us!"

I laughed. "Let me get some outside clothes on, sweetie. I'll be right out."

"I'm playing in my jammies," she called matter-of-factly.

"Well, I need some pants," I muttered to myself. I ran upstairs and took a quick shower, then got into some clean clothes. I was outside in a pair of faded bootleg pants and a cozy black sweater. We were all barefoot, and my toes luxuriated in the thick grass. I wandered around, confused. Where were they?

Suddenly, a cool, small hand grasped my wrist and pulled me into some bushes.

"Shh!" Nathan hissed when I giggled. "James is It. He plays like it's Renaissance time, Jane. It's crazy."

"Renaissance time?" I asked. "What was so special about Renaissance time?"

Nathan shushed me again. "I'll tell you later, just be quiet--"

"Tag," James said drolly, tapping us both on the head. We turned, Nathan glowering glumly and me laughing. "You're lucky I found this little one first."

"I'm It!" Carmen cried excitedly from the towering vampire's shoulders. "But James is on my team!"

"That's not fair!" Nathan protested. James held up a hand.

"Nathan, which one of you can lift eighteen wheelers?"

Nathan glowered. "Me."

"Which one of you can run so fast you're almost invisible with speed?"

"Me." Heavy sigh.

"Which one of you can see in the dark?"

"Alright, alright! Fine. You two can be on a team." Nathan huffed out a breath. "I still think she's cheating."

"We'll find the best hiding spots," I told him, patting his shoulder. He looked slightly heartened by that fact.

But only slightly.

* * *

**Ahh. I love that Nathan kid, man. :) Reviews, please. Oh, and my next post will be a character profile. Millecent's profile, in fact. I'm sure you'll like it...**

**Well, I hope you'll like it.**


	12. Profile: Millecent

Name: Millecent Blade (also, Millecent Blade of Roan Manor, the Lady of Roan, Millie Blade)

Born: Millesande Boudelaire, late 1300s

Era: Renaissance Era

Status: Stationary Vampire

History: While the humans were reaching the peak of their understanding, vampires were fighting to keep themselves in the dark. Humans back then were both intelligent and superstitious, which made it easier for them to find vampires. Human beings with superhuman strength and speed, called vampire hunters, were more active at the enlightened time. Vampires had to refrain from killing too many humans and thus attracting attention. This made the vampires extremely testy. Many quickly set up borders and covens, calling themselves stationary vampires. Nomadic vampires wandering through a stationary vampire's territory were immediately and brutally killed.

Millesande Boudelaire was born into the serving class, and was very good at establishing order, even at an early age. She became the housekeeper of Roan Manor, the estate owned by the French vampire Claude Roan. Claude was very taken with Millesande, and he Sired her on her 32nd birthday. However, she quickly became sharp and cold (Ignatius of Chasecroft decided that she was menstruating when she was turned, and now she is eternally PMSing. It's not true, but Jordan Dai of Kyoto Mansion finds it deliciously funny). She was extremely territorial, killing all the vampires she viewed as 'surplus' -- worthless vampires who contributed nothing to the immortal world. She had a sword made especially for her, which she called her Surplus Slayer. When Claude tried to stop her violent judgments, she killed him, therefore officially claiming control of Roan Manor. She was called Millecent Blade of Roan Manor, and her right-hand man was James of Roan (Millecent's last name is in honor of her sword). They ruled most of Europe's underworld for almost two hundred years.

Millecent and James were confronted with Ignatius of Chasecroft around the early 1600s. He was a stationary vampire from the Americas, but he enjoyed traveling. The two European vampires became fast friends with him, charmed by his laid back attitude and collected control of his life. They kept in touch for a century, and when Millecent and James were overthrown, they went rushing to Ignatius's home. They found themselves as not only honored guests, but willing participants in the household. One day Millecent, in an absentminded mood, cleaned the entire house by herself. She felt so ridiculously pleased that she dubbed herself official housekeeper at Chasecroft. She took care of the house, and later befriended Ignatius's human mate, Elizabeth. Millecent took care of Elizabeth and Ignatius's children, Augustine and Benedikt, cleaning up after them and keeping them out of too much trouble. James joined her in the general upkeep of their new home. Millecent killed anyone who called them servants.

At this point it was about 1820. Elizabeth died of pneumonia, and Ignatius disappeared. Millecent and James became the boys' caretakers, raising them and taking care of them.

Millecent remains, to this day, very much feared by the Eastern hemisphere. She kept her Surplus Slayer. She hates French fries, French bread, and all other things with French references that are not really from France.


	13. Hide and Seek

**Third Person.**

**Before James came out to play, how was Carmen and Nathan's Hide-and-Seek game going? This chapter goes out to '_when i look in your eyes'_, and anyone else who likes Carmen/Nathan love. Make up one of those couple names, like Brangelina and Bedward. They make me giggle.**

Carmen huddled behind a thatch of grape vines. She was breathing slowly: In through her mouth, out through her nose. It sounded like a breeze rushing past the flopping grape leaves…

There was a tap on her head.

"You're It," Nathan said.

Carmen made a face. "That's not fair."

"No, it's not. You're still It."

Carmen twisted, slapped his arm, then pranced away. "Now _you're_ It!"

Another light prod on her scalp. "Now you're It."

"Now--" Carmen turned, hand raised to take another whack at him.

The was nobody behind her. She scrunched up her nose.

"Now I'm angry," she called. "You _better_ hide."

"Are you the reason Waldo is hiding?" a lazy voice called from up in the trees, followed by a peal of angelic laughter. But Carmen knew the right answer. She wasn't going to get made a fool of by a vampire who was a mere six inches taller than her.

"No," she said haughtily. "_Chuck Norris_ is the reason Waldo is hiding."

There was a garbled cackle, then a ground shaking thump from behind her. Carmen turned quickly.

Nathan was flat on his back in the grass, wheezing with laughter.

"Did you _fall_ out of the _tree_?!" Carmen laughed. Nathan nodded, hiding his face with his hands and cackling. A slow, catlike smile made its way onto the little girl's face as she came up with an idea.

"When Chuck Norris plays Monopoly, it actually affects the economy," she recited. Nathan let out a barking laugh, and he rolled over onto his side.

"Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door."

"Hey, I can do that too!" Nathan protested, looking up at her with a grin. Carmen laughed, then flopped down onto the grass beside him.

"Chuck Norris counted to infinity."

"Twice," Nathan finished. Carmen giggled.

"Chuck Norris doesn't teabag the ladies, he potato sacks them," Nathan said, looking up at the dark sky and grinning. Carmen frowned.

"I don't get it," she said simply. Nathan looked at her, and his sparkling eyes dimmed.

"Probably not. I'm sorry." He looked back up at the sky, his face blank. Carmen leaned over and pressed her forehead against his. He twitched slightly, and she patted his messy blonde hair.

"Where'd you hear that one?" she asked. "What's it mean?"

Nathan closed his eyes. "Jordan told it to me. It's a sex thing."

"Oh." Carmen paused. "Reproduction again."

Nathan laughed. "With Jordan, it can be the only thing she thinks about sometimes. Especially when she thinks Ashton's mad at her."

Carmen dropped onto her back and stared up at the stars with him. "Why?"

"She thinks it'll make him pay more attention to her," he replied. "She's scared of people leaving her."

"That's sad."

Carmen was silent, then she looked over at the boy. "You won't leave me, will you?"

Nathan was silent for a while, tilting his head to stare at her. Finally, he reached out and took her hand.

"No," he said. "I won't leave you."

Carmen beamed, then leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. Nathan's pale, lifeless face flushed with color.

"I won't leave you either," she promised, resting her head on his shoulder.

Nathan turned his head slowly, slightly, and rested his cheek against her thick brown hair. His eyes closed, and his fingers squeezed hers gently.

"Good," he said.

"I thought you two were playing Hide-and-Seek," James's smooth voice interrupted. Nathan twitched upwards, and his head swiveled around. James was gliding over to them, a playful grin on his usually stoic face.

"We were," Carmen said, straightening up and smiling brightly. "I was totally winning."

"Yeah. I didn't have a chance," Nathan said, standing and pulling the little girl up after him. "You might do a little better than me, though."

"I doubt it," Carmen sniffed. "I'm the best there is. Um… James? Are you okay?"

A strange, blank look had settled on the vampire's face. Nathan shifted slightly, his shoulder in front of Carmen's, his eyes tightening.

"You think I can't find you?" James demanded, color rising in his cheeks. "I can find anybody. I spent _years_ finding people, child."

"Can't find me," Carmen said delightedly, not registering James's tightening muscles. "I'm sneaky."

"I'm timing this," Nathan heard Millecent mutter at the other end of the gardens. Carmen caught a glimpse of movement through a window.

"Jane! Come play Hide-and-Seek with us!" she cried.

There was a velvety laugh that made Nathan's little heart twist upwards. "Let me get some outside clothes on, sweetie, I'll be right out."

"I'm playing in my jammies," Carmen said, her expression annoyed.

"Come on, you two. Go hide. I'll win," James said, jerking his head towards the rest of the garden.

"Quit acting like it's the 1500s, James. It's a game," Nathan said in a placating tone. James's eyes tightened, and his head twitched towards the gardens again.

"Twenty seconds," he said.

"James--"

"Nineteen."

Nathan looked at Carmen, his eyes dark and serious.

"What?" Carmen asked.

Nathan took a deep breath. "Run."

* * *

**Ooh. James won't be taking that. LOL.**


	14. Profile: Jordan

Name: Jordan Dai (aka, Jordan of Kyoto, Jordan Dai of Kyoto Mansion, Jinny Dai)

Born: Jin Raku Dai, 1799

Era: Asian Blackening Era

Status: Stationary Vampire

History: In the early 1800s, the vampires in the Eastern hemisphere, particularly in Asia, were seething with the need to revolt. Humans were fighting and hating each other, and when they were turned into vampires, that hate didn't die. The vampires were warring against the enemies of their past life, and human tension continued to build.

Jin Raku Dai was born into this strained era. She grew up with her mother, father, three brothers and baby sister. Constantly at war with her siblings, she vied with them for the attention of her parents, which did the reverse of her intentions. Her parents didn't approve of an impatient girl, and she was frequently punished for her impudence and tantrums. Around this time she met a vampire named Ignatius of Chasecroft. Ignatius was amused by her lively demeanor, and often would sit silently for hours listening to her childish chatter.

One day Jin Raku Dai came home from chatting with Ignatius to find her small village decimated. Every human in the village was dead. A few vampires still loitered, picking off any possible survivors. One vampire who saw her said that the blood would "flow like rivers" until the world came to an end. She ran back to Ignatius, who housed her until she was nineteen, at which point he turned her. She almost always had a sunny disposition, and everyone she met was charmed by her wit and attitude. She became instant friends with Ignatius's sons, Augustine and Benedikt. Augustine was eleven, and Benedikt, who affectionately called her Jinny Dai, was eight. She loved making fun of them. She was also very fond of Elizabeth, who she viewed as a mother figure, even though they were only six years apart.

When Elizabeth died, Jinny mourned. She tried to turn to Ignatius for comfort, but the day after Elizabeth was buried, Ignatius disappeared. She was left with Millecent, who she thought was overly strict, and James, who she thought was crazy competitive. She was also left to comfort the two little boys, which was a chore she was not happy about. She often went out of her way to find things in life worth living for: art, music, even nature. She was particularly fond of the rain.

In 1856, she was dancing in the rain. She met a man who was sitting on a bench, watching her. She abruptly felt delighted, excited that he was there. She danced over to him and introduced herself as Jin Raku Dai. He introduced himself courteously as Ashton, but otherwise didn't seem to respond. She was slightly frustrated by his obvious depression, and made an effort to cheer him, pointing out that every day was different, however marginally. They were almost immediately obsessed with each other: Jinny, whom he called Jordan, obsessed with making him happy, and Ashton obsessed with figuring out how she was so happy all the time. They were mates, created perfectly for each other.

In 1900, Jordan and Ashton migrated to Kyoto, Japan (modern day Tokyo). There they established themselves as Stationary vampires, living in Kyoto Mansion and banishing all the Nomads with the help of two Hunting vampires, Josephine (Jo) and Kristina (Krissy).

They tried to keep out of the seething Boxer Rebellion, but then Drusilla, a friend of Jo and Krissy's, was killed by the raging humans. Jo and Krissy demanded that Jordan and Ashton help them avenge Dru, saying that Jordan and Ashton owed them for helping clear out Kyoto. Jordan and Ashton agreed, and they destroyed a good portion of the human army alongside the Hunters. When they finished devastating a town, Jordan saw a little girl crying for her mother. Jordan was reminded of herself, after her village had been destroyed, and she immediately grabbed the girl and took her back to Kyoto, telling Jo and Krissy that she couldn't help anymore. She and Ashton raised the girl, who's name was Nishi, and when Nishi was twenty-one, Jordan turned her. Ashton and Jordan moved back to America in the early 2000s, letting Nishi become rightful heir to Kyoto Mansion.

Jordan is currently living in Chasecroft Estate with Benedikt and his mate, Jane. She loves bright colors, grass, and picking on Nathan de L'Anneau.

* * *

**A/N: de L'Anneau means 'of the ring.' It refers to Nathan's time in the fighting rings. :) Just thought you needed to know. Oh, and Jo and Krissy will be important later in the story. Remember them. ;)**


	15. Chapter 12

"Jane, you are terrible at this game," Nathan finally whined. I huffed and teetered in the tree I was in.

"And you look dumb," Carmen agreed. Suddenly, Jordan was beside me in the branches.

"We look _awesome_," she said haughtily. "You two can go be midgets someplace else."

"Alright, now all of you are It. You aren't trying nearly hard enough," James said. He crossed his arms and looked up at Jordan and I. I stared back blankly at him, and Jordan crossed her eyes.

"I'm a monkey, James!" she said excitedly. He smiled at her.

"Yes, Jordan, you are a monkey. Get down, now," he said. Jordan grabbed me and leapt out of the tree. She landed gracefully on her feet, but I grunted in her steely grasp.

"Fu-uck," I wheezed. Carmen giggled and Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Now, was that necessary?" Jordan asked, jigging me on her shoulder like the malignant thing she was.

"You-- are-- evil--" I gasped. Jordan laughed and set me down. I straightened up, tugging on my sweater and making a face, trying to maintain my dignity.

"Fine. I can tell when I'm not wanted," I said haughtily. I turned to leave, then saw Ignatius in the doorway. I tipped my head to the side curiously, and he smiled. He held his hand up and hooked a finger at me in a come-here gesture. I smiled slightly.

"Yeah, midget, bow before the lady of the house," I heard Jordan say. There was a thump, then some cursing and raving and a few war cries from Carmen. I kept myself from turning to check on them, instead walking over to my father-in-law. He pulled back into the house, and I followed. I could see him just before he turned each corner: a flash of black pants and shirt. His footfalls struck the marble floor hollowly. My own bare feet slapped the floor lightly, and my pant legs swished against each other. Finally we reached a room where he stopped. There was a huge, unlit fireplace beneath a five by ten foot oil painting. A couple was reclined in a oversized, gaudy chair. I recognized Ignatius in the picture easily. He was staring insolently out of the frame, his elbow on the armrest and the knuckles of his first and middle fingers against his temple. A beautiful woman was slung across his lap nonchalantly, a coy smile playing across her expression. Her brown eyes seemed to glitter, even from the canvas. Her elbow shared the armrest with Ignatius's, and her fingers were frozen in a loving brush against his cheek. Despite the mischievousness of her smile, there was a soft beauty on her features. Her dark brown hair was tumbling in loose curls around her, and one of Ignatius's fingers was entwined in a single lock.

Ignatius was staring up at the painting. He reached back blindly, caught a chair, and settled himself heavily into it, never taking his eyes from the woman. I hurried forward automatically and knelt at his side. His blind hand reached out, and I took it, squeezing comfortingly. He took a deep, ragged breath.

"I wondered if he had kept a picture or two of her. I'm surprised… after all these years… how much it hurts to see it…" he whispered, his voice barely a whisper. I looked back up at the woman. The shape of her nose matched Augustine and Benedikt. Her cheekbones were high and regal, like Augustine's, and the shape of her dark eyes matched Benedikt's.

"Jane, this is a picture of my late wife. Elizabeth," Ignatius said. I was silent, closing my eyes. I leaned against his arm, and his head rolled to rest against my hair. He shuddered slightly.

"You know how you feel for my son, Jane? The way you feel when you see him, all the things you'd do for him?"

"I'd do anything for him," I said almost immediately. Ignatius sighed.

"Would you make him do anything he didn't want to do?"

I shook my head.

"What if he wanted to risk his life?"

My lips pulled back from my teeth, and my breath hissed. Ignatius straightened up slightly, and I could see his sad smile.

"Elizabeth wanted to be thirty forever. She thought that was the perfect age. I was turned at the age of thirty-one, so she thought it was… fitting, I suppose. I was constantly nagging on her to let me turn her. One day… she got really sick. It was hard for her to breathe… She was coughing, she was feverish… She thought she'd get better. So she wouldn't let me…"

He shuddered again. "She just wanted to be thirty, for god sakes…"

I wrapped my arms around him awkwardly. The chair was too much in my way for it to be really comforting, but it seemed to calm him down.

"She died in a matter of weeks. Is it strange, to remember people after they've been dead for over two hundred years? I remember the first and last words she said to me, Jane." He turned to stare at me with his fierce black eyes. "Her first words to me were, 'Let me help you with that.' Her last words were, 'Please don't worry, darling.' Isn't it silly and stupid of me, Jane, to remember these things? They won't bring her back, they won't make the pain stop. All the useless things I hold dear, Jane, all the stupid things!"

His voice was desperate, manic. I stared mutely at him, my heart aching dully. He took a few deep breaths, then turned back to the painting. His voice was much more calm, almost tired, as he continued.

"I wanted to stay with my boys. But I had been… had been speaking to Jordan. And Benedikt came up and took my hand… I looked down at him, and he had her eyes…"

I bit my lip as he shivered. "It was terrifying. The knowledge that I would have to, in a sense, see her every day… Her eyes, her face staring at me from my sons. I couldn't stay. It would have killed me, more quickly than it's killing me now."

He looked back down at me, his face solemn. "I'll need you to explain that to Ben when he gets home."

"Why can't you?" I asked, nodding. He looked back up at Elizabeth, and I understood. I shot to my feet.

"You aren't leaving again!" I snapped at him. His eyelids drooped.

"I can't stay here, Jane. I'll waste away in this room."

"You aren't leaving Benedikt again!" I said imperiously. "He hasn't forgiven you yet! He needs you to stay! Jordan and Augustine, they need you too! Everyone needs you here!"

He stood up and wheeled to face me suddenly. I staggered back a few steps at the agonized look on his face. His mouth worked for a moment, then he closed his eyes again.

"I'm glad he has you," he said finally. "You'll take care of him. Please, Jane, please… I need you to take care of him."

"Parents shouldn't leave their children!" I snarled. Foggy memories of my father, his eyes distant and sad, filled my mind. "I've been fucked from the beginning, haven't I? Do parents just suck, in general? He'll hate you forever, and I won't stop him!"

Ignatius seemed to recoil in on himself. I felt the heat in my face, but I ignored it. He looked at me, his ancient obsidian eyes shimmering.

"I'm sorry that parents have disappointed you, Jane. When you become one, I'm sure you'll understand."

I bared my teeth at him. "I don't think I want kids. I don't want to hurt children like all parents do."

"They aren't all bad."

Ignatius and I jumped, then turned to stare at Carmen. Her big brown eyes were filled with tears.

"My mommy was really nice until a vampire killed her. She baked me cookies and she taught me how to read." Her breathing was hard and pained. I swallowed, then hurried over to wrap her in a hug. She cried softly into my shoulder. Nathan appeared behind her, and he bared his diamond teeth at me.

"What happened?" he demanded. I flinched, startled by his hostility. Carmen straightened up, rubbing her eyes, then turning and flopping into Nathan's arms. He cradled her gently, his neon blue eyes flickering between me and Ignatius. His expression was so protective that I didn't even reach over to rub Carmen's back.

"Les'go play outside," Carmen muttered, pulling back to take his hand, sniffling. "'M okay."

He nodded silently, walking at a human pace out the door with her. He cast one final, warning look at me, then disappeared. I sighed, rubbing goose bumps on my arms. He had really scared me…

I looked back at Ignatius, who was smiling slightly.

"Good to see Nathan has someone, as well," he said. Before I could say anything, he looked back at me.

"You can tell Benedikt my reasoning or not, child. If what you say is true, he'll hate me either way. I just… I hope he makes a better decision than I did. He won't be able to lose you, as well."

I stood rooted, my eyes wide. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead tenderly.

"It was lovely to meet you, Jane. I'm sorry if it didn't work out like you wanted it to."

I closed my eyes, and his presence disappeared. I opened my eyes. The room was empty. I sighed, then went to sit before the painting. I stared up at Elizabeth's face, memorizing it. This was the woman who lived with vampires, who thrived with them. The woman who was happy to love one.

I fell asleep in the chair, and awoke to Benedikt kissing me softly. I sat bolt upright.

"Benedikt! Your dad, he--"

"I know."

His face was calm, and I relaxed. I took his hand, and he squeezed it softly. "I'm sorry, Benedikt."

"It's not your fault," he said. He looked up at his mother. "I can understand, now. Millie heard most of your conversation, she told me. I can see… I know now."

My lips pursed, and I smiled hesitantly. "Did you hear about Nathan scaring the crap out of me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Did you do something to Carmen?"

"No! She was just crying, and he came in and thought we did it."

"We?"

"Me and… you know." I looked up at the painting, focusing on Ignatius. Benedikt leaned into my arm, his dark red eyes rolled up to stare at me.

"Why do you love me, Jane?" he asked. I turned to look at him, his sad, earnest face. I pushed his hair out of his face, and he smirked.

"I love that you always answer me when I ask a question," I said. "I love that being with you makes me feel alive. I love the way you hold me."

He was silent for a long, musing moment, his eyes closed. I pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Why do you love me, Benedikt?" I asked. He smiled without opening his eyes.

"I love how you love me, for one," he said. I rolled my eyes, but he couldn't see it. "I love how gentle you are. I love how you make me want to take care of things other than myself. I love everything, I suppose."

He lapsed into silence. I leaned back to look at Elizabeth.

"I won't die, Benedikt. I promise."

He didn't answer, just pressed a kiss to my temple. I turned to make my lips meet his. I reached up to rub his cheek, delighted by the slight warmth.

"You actually hunted," I enthused. He snickered, pulling back and sweeping me up out of the chair. He started walking to our room. I kissed his throat, lingering over the scars Emil had inflicted, however many years ago.

"Did you think I wouldn't hunt?" he asked.

"No. I'm just glad that you did," I murmured against his skin.

"Me too."

"And I'm glad you're back."

He laid me down on the bed, then snuggled up next to me with a smile on his face.

"Me too."

I woke up that day to the sound of weeping and retching. I shot out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Benedikt sat up sleepily, his muscled chest thrown into sharp relief as he switched on a light for me.

I found Carmen quivering over the toilet, puking. She whimpered, and I held her hair back and rubbed the back of her tense neck.

"Stomach flu," I murmured sympathetically. She coughed. I crooned gently to her as Benedikt walked in.

"She's sick," I told him, and his eyes seemed to bug out.

"Why are you taking care of her?" he demanded. "You can get sick, too, Jane. I've got her, go get Millie."

I stood as he crouched next to Carmen, holding her hair and rubbing her back awkwardly.

As I walked out, I heard Carmen manage to say, "Jane's better at this than you."

I giggled slightly as I hurried to Millecent's room. I screeched to a halt as I found her sharpening a really big sword. She looked up at me.

"Is that Carmen vomiting?" she asked casually, standing up and walking to put the sword away. I focused my eyes on her face to ignore the scary thing. I mean, my God, Millecent had a _sword_? What the hell did she use it for?

"Y-yeah," I stammered. "I think it's the stomach flu."

Millecent tsked, then walked back with me. Benedikt was now standing over Carmen, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"I don't know what to do," he said impatiently as Millecent gave him a look. "I've never been sick before!"

"What's happe-- Carmen!"

Nathan darted to the little girl's side, crooning and holding her hair. She whimpered, gasping for air. Millecent knelt beside her, rubbing her back.

"It hu-urts," Carmen moaned, and Millecent _ooh'd_ sympathetically.

"It's alright. We'll take care of you, sweetie. Jane, check the window. Is the sun still up?"

I went to flick open the curtain slightly, and was blinded by a ray of sun. "Ouch. Yes, it's up."

Millecent cussed complacently, then returned to rubbing Carmen's back. "You may want to go back to bed, Jane. You might have gotten the bug already. Benedikt, go with her. Nathan, go back to-- well, don't look at me like that, dammit. You can stay if you have to. Don't ever give me that look again, young man, or James will smack it off your face."

Nathan grumbled, but didn't really answer. I slowly walked back to bed, Benedikt right behind me.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Do you think you'll get sick?"

"I don't know." I held my hands out to him with a grin. "Kiss me before it's too late."

We hurried to make up for time we had yet to lose.

* * *

**If you love me for updating, review. If you love Nathan/Carmen, review. If you love implied sex, review. LOL, thanks for reading, you guys. :) Do you see why Ignatius left now?**


	16. Chapter 13

**Super short chapter, I'm sorry to say. But I think you'll like it. :)**

A week later, I woke up and ran to the bathroom.

I heard a slight flurry, slight panic behind me as I puked into the toilet.

"Jane? Jane! Jane?!"

Benedikt held my hair back, jabbering desperately in some Asian language as I retched.

From the other room, I heard Carmen wail, "I'm soooorry Jaaaane!"

Jordan was now beside me, jabbering back at my husband as he panicked. She rubbed my back.

"Jane, sweetie, I love you, but you look ridiculous," Jordan giggled helplessly. Benedikt shoved her away.

"You're useless," he snapped, but Jordan just shook her head.

"Jane, you understand, right? Isn't discomfort funny?" Jordan crooned, continuing to massage my tense back. I moaned, bobbing my head slightly in the affirmative.

"See? She knows."

"God, Jinny, stop talking," Benedikt moaned. Jordan huffed.

"I'll get Millie," she said. I managed to get a space between throwing up and gasping for air.

"The sun's up," I groaned. "She can't do anything."

We had to buy Pepto Bismol for Carmen once the sun went down the week before. Nathan, James, and Jordan had stayed home with the little girl while Millecent, Benedikt and I had gone to the store. Millecent and I were focused on the medicine, but Benedikt mostly walked right next to me and stared at my face, as if expecting me to _explode_ with illness at any second.

Which, in hindsight, wasn't as silly as I thought.

"She can get the medicine," Jordan said. "She hid it, remember?"

Carmen had liked the taste of the Pepto Bismol so much that she had Nathan steal it for her. Millecent had to hide it so that neither of them could find it.

"Jane? Jane, can you breathe?" Millecent asked me now.

"Unh. Ugh. Guh."

"I'll take that as a yes," she said. Jordan got up and backed away, her lips pursed and her copper eyes glittering.

"She looks gross. Is she going to die?"

"Jordan, stop frightening Benedikt," Millecent said as Benedikt snarled. "You know very well that she is not going to die."

Jordan laughed. I puked.

"Love, come back to bed. Leave them alone," Ashton's soothing voice, gritty with sleep, cut in. Jordan's giggles subsided into croons, and then all I could hear was Millecent and Benedikt's steady breathing.

"Is she gone?" I moaned.

"Yes, love, she's gone. Are you okay? Do you want anything?" Benedikt asked anxiously. His fingers twitched on my shoulders.

"I wanna die," I moaned. He sighed.

"You promised you wouldn't, though," he pointed out.

"Dammit."

"Alright, Jane, come on, dear. Can you breathe?" Millecent pressed.

"Noooo."

"Alright. Drink this."

I sucked in some of the overly sweet, viscous medicine, then moaned again. "I feel gross."

"You look gross," Millecent confirmed for me. I whined.

"Did Jordan just… I don't know, possess you?" Benedikt demanded.

"I was merely being honest, Benedikt. Don't panic."

He grumbled and stroked my hair absently. My heaves gradually subsided, and he helped me up to wash out my mouth. He picked me up delicately and took me to the bed. He placed me gently on top of the covers, pushing my sweaty hair back and kissing my clammy forehead. My eyelids drooped and I made a contented noise. He climbed onto the bed beside me, one arm tentatively resting over me. He nuzzled against my shoulder, and I tipped my head to rest against him, sighing softly. I fell back to sleep moments later.

* * *

"Ugh. I feel gross," I complained a week after that.

Benedikt looked at me and raised his eyebrows. His flaming eyes were skeptical, yet concerned. "That's the third time you've said that this evening, love. Why do you feel gross now?"

"I have huge feet," I bitched. He snickered slightly, looking down at my ankles.

"Jane, you have perfectly normal feet. If you want to see weird feet, go look at Jordan's."

"I do not have weird feet!" Jordan cried indignantly from the other room. "I have perfect feet!"

"I'm fat," I whined, toying with my third pot-sticker. Or fourth. Maybe my eighth.

"You are not," Benedikt snapped, looking irritated. "If you were fat, trust me, Carmen would've said so."

Carmen looked up from her magazine. "What?"

I turned imploringly to her. "Carmen, I'm fat, aren't I?"

She slowly raised her eyebrows, then looked me up and down. "Kinda."

I wailed and flopped back on the ebony couch. Benedikt sighed heavily, and Natalia giggled.

"You're fired, cutie-pie," she told Carmen with a laugh. I whimpered curse words as Benedikt rubbed my side comfortingly.

"I am whiny… and I am fat," I surmised finally. I lifted my gaze pitifully to my frustrated mate. "Benedikt, I'm ugly."

He sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes. "I'm not getting into this with you, Jane."

"That's because you know it's true!" I snapped, waving a finger at him. "You think I'm ugly and mean, and that's why you won't have sex with me anymore!"

"I'm not having sex with you anymore because you won't let me!" he shouted back. I cringed away, my face contorting with agony. Couldn't he see how much pain I was in?

Meanwhile, Carmen was giggling maniacally and shaking her head.

"Jane?" Millecent said, her voice almost sweet. "Jane, dear, can you speak to me for a moment?"

She came over and pulled me away from Benedikt. I huffed and let her lead me into the kitchen.

"Jane, do you mind if I ask some personal questions?" she asked kindly. My eyes narrowed at her friendly advances.

"Why?" I demanded. My head cleared slightly, and I sighed. "It's just PMS, Millecent. Do you remember all the other times I snapped?"

There was a long silence in which Millecent appraised me with her calm silver eyes.

Finally, she said, "No, Jane. I've never seen you act like this. You have always been rather docile, even when your hormones are raging. Can I ask you some questions?"

I sighed and nodded, rolling my eyes. She tactfully ignored that, setting me down on a stool.

"Jane, you say your feet are swollen?" she asked. I huffed and nodded sourly. She nodded, looking down.

"May I see?" she asked. I raised an eyebrow, but kicked off my slippers and showed her my feet. She hemmed and looked back up at me.

"What else is wrong, Jane?" she pressed in that sweet, slightly disturbing tone.

"I'm ugly and fat," I declared.

"Apart from that."

I scrunched up my face, and stared pensively at my fat ankles. "I'm mean."

"Apart from that. Does your back ache? Right," She rubbed my lower back with cool, soothing fingers. "here? A dull sort of throb?"

"Yehh," I groaned. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"I see," she said. "I wouldn't worry about PMS right now, Jane."

"Then what would you worry about?" I asked acerbically. She raised her dancing, almost warm eyes to mine.

"Well, dear, if I was you," she said in that disarmingly kind voice. "I'd worry about being at least two weeks pregnant."

**AN: Alright, seriously, who saw that coming? It's been planned since Chapter 3. :) Review!!**


	17. Chapter 14

"Pregnant?"

"Pregnant."

There was another ridiculously long pause. Carmen finally broke it.

"Pregnant?"

"Pregnant," Millecent said impatiently. "We've said it too many times."

The entire company was staring at me as if I had sprouted a furry growth. I barely noticed them, my eyes on Benedikt's hand, which was resting gingerly on my stomach. His forehead was barely touching mine, and he, too, stared at his hand. His other hand was wrapped gracefully in my hair. My own fingertips were tracing the planes of my stomach.

A baby? I felt a glow start to warm me. A baby. Part me, part Benedikt. A smile curved my lips upward, and my eyes filled with tears. A perfect, tiny baby. And once it was here, and after I was turned, we'd be a perfect family. Me, Benedikt, and our baby. These thoughts just circled aimlessly in my head. Would it be a girl, or a boy? Baby, baby, baby…

"Will you keep it?"

I looked up at Natalia, startled. "What?"

"Tally," Augustine hissed. "Of course she'll keep it."

"Where else would I put it?" I asked stupidly. Thick silence permeated the room, and from the way Natalia's eyes flickered away from mine, embarrassed, I felt a sick understanding.

"Did you mean… get rid of it?" I gasped, my fingers digging into my skin for a moment. Natalia shook her head desperately.

"No, Jane, I didn't mean it like that," she said hurriedly. "Please, Jane, you know I didn't mean it like that!"

"Then how did you mean it?" I asked shrilly. Benedikt's hands, no longer adoring but restraining, tightened in my hair.

"It was a simple mistake, darling," he said silkily. "She didn't think when she worded her question."

Natalia nodded, her eyes wide and sincere. "I meant, you know, if you…"

"Were going to raise the child yourself," James said. My eyebrows shot up skeptically.

"Of course not," I snapped. "I'll have everyone here to help me. Won't I?"

"Of course, dear," Millecent said, her face glowing. I let out a shaky laugh, and she beamed at me. Natalia stared at the thick, forest-green carpeting. Benedikt's fingers loosened. I felt his smile against my cheek. I turned to press my lips against his gleefully. After a few moments, I heard Carmen sigh heavily.

"How long will that take?" she muttered.

"I think we should time it," Jordan said excitedly. "How long before she finally has to either breathe or puke?"

"Yeah!" Carmen said with equal vigor. I pulled away and rested my forehead against Benedikt's shirt. He was chuckling deep in his chest, and he was stroking my hair tenderly.

"Aww…" Jordan groaned. "I couldn't even get a timer."

"Fuck!" Carmen said loudly.

"Carmen!" Millecent cried, mortified.

"What?" Carmen asked blankly. "Everybody else here says it."

"But you're eleven years old! You are not allowed to say curses," Millecent said severely. Carmen's brow wrinkled and her lips puckered.

"How come Nathan can say cusses and I can't?" she demanded, pouting.

"Because Nathan is three hundred and seventeen years old. You… are eleven. I don't see your argument, young lady."

"The baby will be able to cuss," Carmen predicted in a bemoaning voice. Nathan snickered.

"The baby will be dropping bombs and Carmen won't even be able to say how much it sucks," Jordan said excitedly. She grabbed Ashton's arm and shook him slightly. He smiled complacently as she laughed.

"The baby will not be dropping bombs," I said firmly.

"Whatever that means," Carmen said. "Oh, wait… I get it. Sorry."

They all started staring at me again. James took a deep breath.

"Benedikt… what about Darius?"

My heart stopped.

Darius.

_Darius_.

Oh, God…

My fingers dug into Benedikt's hard skin.

"What will he do?" I gasped. His flaming eyes were wide and frightened. His hand was locked on my stomach, as if shielding the little thing inside me. The others didn't look to my husband, however. They turned to Millecent.

She closed her eyes and seemed to rock slightly. Her fingers were twitching in her lap, and her lips were moving slightly. James was behind her, his dark eyes flickering between her and the rest of us. He looked like he was guarding over her as her sharp mind raced. Finally, her eyes snapped open.

"He'll kill her," she said, her voice empty. Everyone but James started arguing loudly. I just gazed into Millecent's sad eyes.

She didn't want this. She wanted to see a little baby. Not a lifeless body.

There was a sudden, lightening fast upheaval, and I blinked a few times to put it back together in my head.

Nathan had darted up to Millecent suddenly, his face contorted into a snarl. James had snatched him off his feet and shook him. Millecent had held her hands out, her eyes wide.

"James!" she cried. James turned slightly to look at me, and his agitated face smoothed into an expressionless mask. He set Nathan down.

"Sorry, Nathan. Don't charge her," he said. Nathan nodded, seeming to forget the incident instantly.

"What if we get him first?" he demanded. His eyes were wide and his cheeks flushed excitedly. Jordan nodded.

"A man like him will only have loose, superficial friendships," she said. Ashton shook his head, his red-gold hair swishing around his pale face.

"But they'll be reputation-based. They'll go to his aid as soon as he says it involves face."

"But we have more friends," Natalia pointed out quietly. Benedikt began shaking his head immediately.

"We aren't bringing the Creeds into this, Tally," Augustine said. "That could get out of hand."

"I'm not talking about the rest of _us_," Natalia said, rolling her lovely eyes. "I'm actually talking about Jordan and Ashton's friends."

"Nishi isn't a part of this!" Jordan snapped suddenly. Ashton settled his hand heavily on her shoulder, and her fierce expression cooled down. Natalia closed her eyes and sighed.

"I meant the Hunters," she said impatiently. Benedikt's face smoothed into a blank "huh?" expression.

"The-- the-- Josephine and Kristina?" he asked incredulously.

"Let's put the emphasis on Kristina," Augustine said. James's lips twitched into a smirk.

"They can have other friends too, right?" Natalia asked.

There was a pause in which Jordan made a little giggling noise.

"It wasn't supposed to be funny," Natalia snapped. Another pause, and Jordan giggled again.

"But it was anyway," she said. Ashton sighed.

"They will have connections, the same as Darius. Tally's right. We might have to call them."

"Call them!" Benedikt exploded. His hands were hard on my wrists, and his eyes were flaming. "They'll kill her because they'll get bored!"

"Not if it's interesting enough," Jordan said, rising and going to stand by the window. She stared into the night musingly, her lower lip pouting and her fingers on her chin. Millecent smiled. It was a slightly unpleasant smile.

James smiled too. "And _we_ were worried about never having any fun around here."

* * *

**You may not know it... But things are getting exciting. :) Now Jo and Krissy are coming. It'll be... exciting. XD**


	18. Chapter 15

**From now on, Jane's pregnancy will be told from Benedikt's point of view. I just figured it would be more interesting. Alright, on with the story!**

"Who are they?" Jane asked me. "The Hunters… Josephine and Kristina?"

I hesitated. We were sitting in the gardens beneath a huge weeping willow, about a week after our conversation when we found out she was pregnant.

As usual, my thoughts strayed when I thought of the child. My fingers darted to her stomach, which seemed to me to be swelling slightly. Millie said it would be a few months before the baby would move. I wanted to feel it now. It was hard not to scowl at the baby that, already, seemed stubborn.

"I'm surprised it took you this long to ask," I stalled. She shrugged, playing with my fingers and kissing under my jaw. I shivered lightly, pleasantly, as her warmth pulsed against me.

"They're just… two women that Jordan and Ashton know," I said. I felt almost betrayed, when Millie and James agreed to call the Hunters. Jane would be in even more danger when they got here.

I sighed when my wife hummed slightly. She looked up at me and smiled her gentle angel's smile. It felt like my heart was tearing out of my chest, trying to fly. Painful pleasure.

"You know… the different statuses, right?" I asked.

"Nomadic and Stationary," she said, nodding.

"There's more than those two. You know about the Renaissance time?"

She nodded, her brow furrowed. I dropped a kiss onto her nose before I could stop myself.

"Stationary vampires were on top, and Nomadic vampires were getting picked off as they passed through claimed territory."

I heard Millecent chuckle all the way from the kitchen.

"Some nomads, ones that were halfway crazy anyway, came up with an idea. They could be helpful to the Stationary vampires, even while they did whatever they wanted. That's all the nomads wanted, you see: to be left to their own devices.

Some Nomadic vampires changed their status to Hunting vampires. They are… mercenaries, I suppose. When they passed through your territory, you could hire them to kill the other nomads on your land. In return, you let the Hunters live. Sometimes the Stationary vampires would kill the Hunters afterwards anyway, just because they could."

I paused, looking up at the stars. Jane leaned against me, listening to my heart. I ran my fingers through her hair, my eyes drifting closed.

"So?" she murmured. My fingers twitched, pressing her a bit closer to my chest. "What about Josephine and Kristina?"

I sighed. "Josephine and Kristina… are two Hunters. They've been around a long time. Some people think they even pre-date the original Hunters. They've been together forever."

Jane pulled back to look at me strangely. "Are they… mates?"

I laughed. "No. Bonding with someone doesn't have to mean they are your sexual partner. A bonded partner is someone who completes you-- someone who's everything you need. A bonded pair can be best friends, even a gay couple. It's not like we usually reproduce, so that's not even a part of the bonding… qualifications, I suppose. Josephine and Kristina are constantly taking care of each other, and they're almost never apart. Best friends forever."

There was another peaceful silence as Jane thought quietly. I didn't try to bring her from her musings. Her face was so beautiful when she was thinking hard: her lips pouting, her brows drawn down slightly, her bright eyes distant and glittering.

My stomach tightened, and I lifted her up and pulled her into my lap. I kissed her throat as she giggled.

"I'm thinking," she objected, her small hand reaching up to tangle in my black hair. I growled slightly, more of a purr, and her giggles gave way into pure, velvety laughs. My tongue flicked out to taste her musky skin, and she shivered.

"Ben," Augustine's voice called from the living room. I growled angrily, never moving my face from Jane's neck. "Ben, ass in here now. We have to talk about the Hunters."

I pulled away and hung my head in frustration. "Again?"

Jane stroked the back of my neck curiously. Of course: she couldn't hear all the way into the house. I pressed her hand against my face, inhaling. Cherries… yum.

"Come on," I said sullenly. "We have to talk about the Hunters again."

She frowned slightly at my abrupt change of mood. I could tell she never liked it when it happened. Hell, my mood swings had been around since my mother died. I was kind of set in my ways.

We walked at a human pace, maybe a little slower. I occasionally leaned over to kiss or nibble Jane's skin, and she always reciprocated with a giggle or a kiss back.

So, here's a summary of my mood: Fucking _euphoric_.

Augustine, Millecent, Nathan, and James were in the living room. James was in a high-backed chair, with Millie perched on the arm-rest. Augustine was sprawled across the whole couch, smirking as I glared. Nathan was at the table, his little legs swinging as he sat on the tall chair. He beamed at me, and I half-smiled back. His lightening blue eyes were flashing, like they always did when he was excited… or ready to kill something.

"They should be here soon," Augustine told me. My eyes bugged out.

"What?" I demanded. "What do you mean, soon?"

"Like, maybe an hour and a half," Augustine said, rolling his reddish-brown eyes. "Don't be such an imbecile, Ben."

"Hey," Jane snapped, her eyes steely grey and narrowed at my brother. I smiled proudly as Millie sighed.

"We'll have to find a good way to introduce Jane," she said before Augustine could snap back at my mate. "Ashton said they fed to the minimum-- Josephine says it keeps their minds sharp, focused. If Jane is upwind of them… well, things might get a tad violent."

"So they haven't hunted in… how long?" Jane asked, her cheeks losing their color slightly. Her slender fingers danced across her stomach instinctively. I looked at Millie as she shrugged.

"Anywhere from a week to a month," she said. Jane groaned, almost inaudibly. I wrapped one arm around her and held her tight. I kissed her temple, breathing in her sweet, intoxicating scent. If the Hunters-- especially Kristina-- were hungry enough, they would definitely go for the luscious aroma. They were running on who knows how many years of instinct. Food came first.

"Don't worry," I told Jane anyway.

Totally futile. She felt the tension in my muscles, and her tiny body was soon jittering nervously. I pulled her to the couch, picking up Augustine's feet and dropping them to the floor with a thump. He grumbled as Jane and I sat down, but I just gave him a cheeky grin.

"Where's Tally?" Jane asked, her voice surprisingly calm. "And the others?"

"Hunting," Millecent answered. "Tally and Ashton haven't hunted in a week, and Jordan never lets Ashton leave without her."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "Nathan? Carmen? Don't tell me Carmen's out killing people."

James chuckled and Millie made a face. I pressed my lips to Jane's throat, felt her heart beat against my smile.

"No," Millecent said. "I'm not sure where those two are. Nathan's probably showing off."

"Picking up eighteen wheelers," Jane said, smirking at James. He smirked back, and Augustine chuckled. My teeth brushed against Jane's jugular, and she shivered, reaching up and twining her fingers in my hair.

Suddenly my ears pricked up, itching nervously. I pulled away from Jane, who grumbled slightly. Millecent met my gaze with her stark, knowing eyes.

"Is that them?" I asked. I could hear the wind blowing through the leaves outside-- as well as another source of air, a soft, rhythmic breath…

Two. Two people breathing softly outside. I could feel my heart jump in my chest, and heard their hearts leap in response.

Josephine and Kristina were very excited.

"Yes," Millie replied, standing. Jane's heart quickly drowned out the outside noise, but not before I heard a whisper of noise at the front door.

Now there was a faint scritching. Like someone scratching lightly on the oaken door.

"Little pigs, let me in," a quiet voice breathed before giving way to near-silent giggles. There was a sigh.

The doorbell rang.

Augustine straightened, pinning Jane between him and myself. I wrapped one arm around Jane's shoulders, and she looked up at me. My jaw was clenched, shooting glares at James as Millecent went to answer. He raised his eyebrows at me as the door opened.

"Hey," Millecent said irritably. "There's no-one here."

Wind blew over the threshold, and the cold air made Jane shiver. Suddenly, I tightened up.

Someone was breathing softly on the back of my neck. I tightened my hold around Jane's shoulders, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Augustine grimace.

"Good evening, Hunters," I said coolly. The breath on my neck paused.

There was a giggle. James's eyes were narrowed, staring just over my shoulder. Millecent was tense, as well, gazing behind us.

"Good evening, Master Benedikt," a sweet, bell-like voice said. Jane nearly jumped, but I held her down firmly. A dark skinned, beautiful young woman appeared before us, smiling sweetly. Another woman, Asian and petite, appeared on James's lap. His upper lip wrinkled with slight distaste. The woman beamed at Jane, and waved her fingers at me. My lips were pressed together.

"May I ask where Dai-chan is?" she asked, her voice like a cat's purr. I glanced up at Millie.

"She and Ashton are hunting," she explained to the young woman, who frowned.

"I see," the dark woman said before the other one could answer. She smiled and bowed to me. I dipped my head in return.

"I'm Josephine," she said. "This is Kristina."

Kristina smiled, tossing her hair back. It was a little shorter than Jane's, but at least down to her shoulder blades.

"I heard that even the Creeds were involved," she said conspiratorially, as if we were gossiping. Augustine tautened, and I glanced apprehensively at him. Kristina didn't seem to notice.

"Only Natalia," Millecent said. Kristina giggled delightedly. Her eyes were red, almost black, and they were sparkling like fireworks.

"That's like saying it's only a third degree burn," she said, looking up at the frowning Millie.

"Krissy," Josephine said in a warning voice. Kristina frowned, looking like a sullen child.

"I'm just saying," she said moodily.

"You think things could get dangerous, and you aren't involving all the Creeds?" Josephine asked me, making a skeptical face. Her earthy brown eyes were intense and focused. It felt like I was staring straight into the sun. I looked at Millie.

"The Creeds are usually too unstable to be a part of something as… complicated as this," James explained, shifting gingerly under Kristina. He looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I kind of want to know who is involved," Josephine said.

"So far?" I asked. "Ashton and Jordan of Kyoto, Nathan de L'Anneau, James of Roan, Millecent Blade, Natalia Creed, Augustine Chasecroft, and me."

Kristina grinned. "Sounds dangerous already. Especially James of Roan… Where's he?"

I coughed slightly.

"You're sitting on him," Millecent said dryly. Kristina looked back at James, who raised his eyebrows at her. She appraised him for a long moment, then finally looked back at me.

"That's so cool," she said, grinning.

"And Millie Blade," Josephine said, gazing at Millie with half-lidded eyes. "Way cool."

"And Jane of Chasecroft," Kristina said, shooting out of James's lap and over to Josephine. "With whatever she has inside her."

"Please excuse Krissy," Josephine told me as I bared my teeth at her curious friend. "She's kind of fucked."

"I'm just randomized, Jo," Kristina argued, staring at Jane with her dark, flashing eyes. Jane was flushed, pressing back against me. I had my free hand on her lap, and she had her fingers wrapped around it, squeezing anxiously. I nuzzled her jaw comfortingly, my eyes never leaving Kristina's.

I stood, bringing the reluctant Jane up with me.

"This is Jane," I said. Kristina beamed, holding her hand out to shake. Jane reached out slowly. Her fingers didn't tremble as she shook Kristina's hand.

Kristina's brow furrowed slightly, and Josephine's face hardened.

"Kristina," she said in that strangely warning voice.

But Kristina leaned forward suddenly--

And pressed her nose against Jane's skin. Jane stiffened and flinched slightly, but Kristina just held fast to her arm as she inhaled. She pulled away, a grin on her face and her dark eyes dancing.

"Cherries," she said, leaning towards Jane's throat. "Yum."


	19. Profile: Jane

Name: Jane Chasecroft

Born: McKenna Jane Sinclair, 1991

Era: Modern Era

Status: Human

History: Robert Sinclair, grandson of well-to-do Irish immigrants, met a woman named Emily Bell when he was twenty-three years old. Emily was twenty-one, the only daughter of two rich Irish business-people. They were married a year later. As they were walking home from one of their dates, they were cornered in an alleyway by the vampires Rider and Vanessa Gonzalez. When the couple began pleading for their lives, Rider proposed a compromise: Robert and Emily would live, but Rider and Vanessa would get the first daughter the newlyweds were borne. Robert and Emily rashly agreed. Three years later, Emily gave birth to McKenna Jane Sinclair. Thoroughly grieved and regretful, they raised McKenna with the knowledge that they would not see her grow up.

McKenna, however, was instantly entranced by the thought of vampires, danger, and darkness. She refused to be called by her first name, however, finding it too frilly for her tastes. She went by her middle name, Jane, and all the servants of the household were prone to calling her 'Mistress' or 'Lady Jane.' She was always dressed in black, once telling her mother that it was a 'soothing' color that was 'predictable' and 'comforting.'

Robert and Emily died in a car crash in 2003. Jane had to go live with Rider and Vanessa. For five years, she lived in her own personal hell-- treated as stock for two sadistic vampires, forced from upper-class to less than serving-class in a single day. Vanessa refused to buy anything but minimal food for Jane, so she couldn't wear nice clothes or eat much. At one point she lost her mind, but Vanessa and Rider beat her until she was forced to return to sanity. They mocked and paraded her before other low-class vampires, tormenting her and stripping away any humanity she had.

Rider, along with being purely evil for the fun of it, liked to play cards. One evening in 2008, he entered into a game with Benedikt Chasecroft. If Rider won, he got Benedikt's servant, Nathan de L'Anneau. If Benedikt won, he got Jane. Benedikt won. Jane went to Chasecroft.

She quickly caused a stir: she bought a young Hispanic girl named Carmen, practically adopting her. This started a feud between Jane and Darius Thorne. This feud has yet to be reconciled, and seems to be escalating into pure hate between the two people.

Benedikt, naturally selfish and narrow-minded, was entranced with Jane. She, in turn, was fascinated by him. He couldn't understand how she couldn't care about anything. She couldn't understand how he only seemed to care about her. They fell in love and were married. Jordan of Kyoto threw a fit when she realized what happened, because she wasn't made aware of the marriage until the morning after. Jordan is prone to laughing at Jane.

Jane is now pregnant with Benedikt's child. She still likes the color black. She spends most of her time with Jordan of Kyoto or Nathan de L'Anneau, and usually mediates on arguments between Carmen and Augustine Chasecroft.


	20. Chapter 16

Kristina's mouth was partially open with a smile, and I could see her teeth glimmer dimly.

I would like to say now that I did _not_ panic. I may have gotten… _excited_… but it wasn't panic.

I reached over, grabbed Kristina's hand that was on Jane, and elbowed the Hunter in the face. She pulled back, her face startled and her eyes sparkling with anger. But she had dropped her hold on Jane, which was all I had needed. I shoved Jane back into Augustine's arms, and then grunted when Kristina slammed into my back. She was hissing like an angry cat, and her sharp fingers were digging into my skin. I flipped her over my head, and she landed on the floor with a crash that shook the house. James lunged forward to grab her, but Josephine grabbed his arms and swung her leg up to kick him in the head. Millecent caught her foot, shoving it back down with a snarl. She then kicked Josephine in the chest, sending her staggering back a few steps.

I must say, it's pretty impressive to see all the things Millie can do in a floor length skirt.

Kristina vaulted back onto her feet, then turned and lunged at my throat. She grabbed a hold of me, snarling bitterly and shoving me down. She was straddling me, her fingers digging into my neck, trying to tear my head off. There was a sudden, hollow crash, and Kristina got a startled look on her face. She turned slightly, and I could see what she was looking at.

Jane was still behind Augustine, but she had thrown a vase, which had hit Kristina in the back of the head. She was breathing hard, her eyes terrified but her expression defiant.

Kristina's lips pulled back from her teeth, and she leapt off me, charging Jane. Augustine managed to grab a fistful of her dark brown hair, swinging her back at me.

"Thanks," I managed to say sarcastically before Kristina twirled to claw at my face. Josephine was pretty much annihilating James, despite the distraction that was Millie. And Kristina was seriously tiring me out.

A door opened, and there was a soft intake of breath. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jordan and Ashton, their faces mortified. Ashton muttered a curse, but Jordan darted forward--

And slapped me in the back of the head. Kristina and Josephine stopped, raising their eyebrows at her. I dropped Kristina and turned my betrayed faced to Jordan. Kristina grumbled as she hit the floor, but afterwards just flopped onto her back, her arms flung out and her eyes closed.

"What the hell?" I demanded, rubbing the back of my head. "Who's side are you on anyway?"

"My side!" Jordan said, grinning excitedly. Excited seemed to be her state of existence. Kristina's fists shot up in a 'hell yes' gesture.

"Asian pride!" she cried. Josephine rolled her eyes, but then darted over to give Jordan a hug.

"We missed you, Jordan," she said happily, her laugh like silver chimes. Jordan laughed with her.

"Long time, no see," she agreed, pulling away from Josephine and picking up Kristina, who beamed.

"Dai-chan!" she said happily, falling into Jordan's arms in a huge hug. "Glomp!"

"So she _did_ learn that word," Jordan said, sending Josephine an accusing look. Josephine just shrugged.

"You can't expect me to make sure she doesn't read whatever Japanese comics she reads."

"Manga!" Kristina exploded. "And it has _beautiful_ words, thank you very much!"

Millie and James were circling around the Hunters, ready to restart the fight, but stopped when Jordan shook her head.

"What happened, Krissy-chan?" she asked. "What made you need to kick Benni's ass?"

"She did not," I said hotly, darting over to Jane and wrapping my arm around her waist. She leaned heavily against me, her face tired. She was always tired, lately.

Kristina had a devastated look on her face. But now, I could see the almost overwhelming sanity in her red-black eyes. If Cassandra was here…

"Cassandra!" I said suddenly, swiveling my head to look at Augustine. He nodded.

"Cassandra and Heath," he agreed. "Maybe all the Argyles."

"Evangeline Blaque," Josephine added.

"Who's that?" James asked.

"If you don't know, you probably shouldn't find out."

"Why," Jordan shouted. We all jumped. "Were you fighting?"

"Kristina was going to bite Jane," I said, gesturing to the mortified vampire in Jordan's arms.

"I was not," she said. "I was going to sniff her. She smells wonderful."

Jordan sighed, but I just glared.

"Everybody needs to calm down," Ashton said, holding his hands up in a wait gesture. "Ben, obviously there was a misunderstanding. Let's just… get over it and explain the situation."

"Jordan hit me!" I exclaimed, gesturing at the two smug Asian girls. "Am I seriously getting no representation here?"

"Represent," Natalia said from the doorway. Augustine's face lit up, and she practically flew into his arms, her pretty face smug and possessive. She stroked from his temple to his chin, a cat-like smile on her face. He caught her fingers and kissed her fingertips, his eyes never leaving hers. I turned back to Kristina and Josephine, who were stoic and motionless. What can I say? The Creeds are scary people.

"What is going on?" Josephine asked. "This Darius man you spoke of, Jordan… why would he want Jane?"

Jordan glanced at Ashton and nodded. He turned on his heel and glided out the door.

"Nathan, bring Carmen down here, please," I heard him call. There was a light rush of wind. Ashton walked back in, with Nathan and Carmen right on his heels. Carmen glanced shyly up at the imposing strangers, then looked back down at her hand, which was clasped with Nathan's. Josephine glided forward and bent to peer in Carmen's face. Carmen, for all her nervous appearance, didn't even flinch. She looked right back at Josephine, their matching brown eyes equally curious. Josephine closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose. She held her breath there for a moment, then opened her eyes. She nodded, then reached out to take Carmen's hand. Jane was tense in my arms, and Nathan's jaw was locked. I caught his gaze, and shook my head slightly. He inclined his head, but his small body didn't loosen.

Meanwhile, Carmen and Josephine had been whispering to each other. Carmen's eyes were serious and afraid, while Josephine's eyes were calm and decided. Josephine kissed Carmen's cheek.

"It's lovely to meet you, Carmen," she said. She glanced back at Kristina.

Kristina nodded, and turned to tilt her head at me.

"Master Chasecroft," she said in her crooning voice. She bared all her glittering teeth in a smile. "We see there's a problem here. And we'll… make it disappear."


	21. Chapter 17

Two months later, I was watching Jane sleep. Her stomach was bigger: not the planetary proportions that Millie was predicting, but you could plainly see the swell. I stroked her bare skin, trying to see past the membrane and into her.

"Carmen and I looked on Wikipedia," I informed the lump. "According to that, you look kind of like a cartoon fish right about now. I think it's kind of gross."

My hand was resting delicately on her. My other hand was holding her fingers. I was sitting cross-legged.

"So… you're going to grow like a normal human child," I told the thing growing in my wife. "You're mind is speeding along like a NASCAR, though. At least, that's what happened to me. I was talking by four months. Uncle Augustine talked when he was six months. Because Gus is an idiot."

I paused. "I think you'll be good at math. I'm pretty good at math. And so was my mother. I don't know about your mother… she didn't get to go to school after she was twelve. But she's intelligent. She reads a lot. So you'll probably like to read, too. I don't know a lot about genetics. I think you'll suck at science. But Nathan can tutor you. I'll have Carmen make him. He can't say no to her." I hesitated slightly, my ears straining to catch anyone listening in on me and my little family. All I heard was even breathing. Jordan made a light whimpering noise in her sleep, but Ashton rolled over, probably wrapping one arm over her, and her noises subsided. I began rubbing absent circles on Jane's skin.

"I worry about that," I confided to the tiny, barely-existent thing. "Nathan is completely in love with that girl. But she's growing up, and he's… not. The only thing I can think of is to turn her… but Nathan would never let us. She wouldn't want to be stuck in an eleven year old body for eternity. And I think he knows that. So… she'll be a grown up. And he'll be twelve. Forever."

I muttered a curse and hoped that Emil was burning in hell. Nathan did not deserve to be a child, now. He was as old as me. And yet I would be able to love a beautiful woman, live my life, ride the fucking roller coasters at Disneyland. Nathan was trapped in a body that couldn't do that.

I glanced at the window, frowning slightly. Sunlight was glowing, even through the thick, forest green curtains. I had a sudden flash of the sun burning through the thick material, lancing across the room… its light landing on me, on Jane… my skin blistering, scorching, shriveling… Jane screaming… me dying.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, then turned back to Jane. Her brow was puckered, her sleeping expression seeming upset. She stirred slightly, but then I recommenced stroking her hair. She settled down, her face relaxing into smooth remoteness once again. Her skin was pale, smooth, like a china doll's. I bent down and kissed her cheek, praying that my cool lips didn't wake her up.

In the other room, I heard a small body sit up in bed. There was a yawn, then the sound of feet lightly hitting the floor. Someone padded down the hall and over to my room. There was a soft tap on the door.

"Benedikt? Are you awake?" Nathan murmured.

"Yes. You can come in," I replied. "Jane's sleeping."

Nathan gently opened the door and ghosted in. His sandy hair was in a spiky disarray. I smirked.

"Your hair, Nathan," I tsked. He rolled his eyes.

"I get enough of that from the females in the house, Benedikt. Apparently I'm soooo cute. They just want to hug me and cuddle me and dress me up like a cabbage patch kid." He was using a baby-voice, mocking the girls' croons. I snickered.

"Hey, at least you get cuddled," I pointed out. He shrugged, then laughed. The sun was dimming behind the curtain as it set.

Nathan walked softly over and leaned against the big bed, his neon eyes blazing in the dim light. Even without lamps or moonlight, I could see a wicked-looking scar that led from behind his ear to his jaw. According to Nathan, it was from a little vampire girl named Elise, back in the rings. Speaking of…

"Do you ever see Hannah?" I asked him. He gave me an incredulous look.

"Hannah's probably dead already," he said in a cold, emotionless voice.

"Don't get touchy. I'm not saying she needs to help with this," I said. Nathan's eyes flickered to Jane, and his expression changed slightly. His mouth pulled down at the corners and his electric gaze dimmed.

"I… spoke to Hannah. After Millie said… after Millie told us how Darius would react. Hannah said that if it was her, she'd just run. Darius is with the Thornes, apparently."

My jaw clenched, and my hand hesitated on Jane's skin. Of course. She had to offend one of the Thornes.

"She said that we should let the Creeds in on it," Nathan continued. "She told me it would make the field pretty level. Then with the Hunters… She said we'd definitely win, so long as we involved all the Creeds."

"Yeah, and that's such a great idea," I said. I barked out a sarcastic laugh, and Jane stirred a bit. "Let's get the Creeds involved. They're just the clan that, you know, gathers people up and slaughters them like cattle--"

"I never said it was a good idea," Nathan interrupted mildly. "I told her that you would never let the Creeds come up here. She said she couldn't help unless there was a really good chance of winning."

I sighed. "Which is exactly the reason that she's lasted so long in the rings. What about--"

"Look, none of the ring children will help," Nathan cut in. "Do you really think I haven't thought all this through? You're worried about Jane, Benedikt, but the reason for this whole mess is Carmen. I'm not going to let him get her."

I was silent as he glowered at the now-darkened window. His little arms were shaking with pent-up anger, his jaw stiff with frustration.

"I thought they'd be there for me. I would have been there for them. It's not like any of them have clans or families or mates. They have nothing to live for except another night of fighting."

His voice was bitter. Jane twitched in her sleep.

"I'm sorry they didn't come through for you, Nathan," I said. He let out a sigh, his muscles loosening. He mussed his hair, squeezing his eyes shut.

"It's not your fault," he said. He straightened abruptly, his brow furrowing. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" I asked.

There was a sudden crunching noise as wood was crushed, then a small screech as the window was yanked up. I managed to turn in time to see the curtains torn down. Nathan hissed, darting over the bed and getting between Jane and the window.

Darius smirked, then snarled bitterly as Jane shot up in bed. She uttered a mortified cry, her slender hands flying up to grab my shoulder. I roared at the vampire at the window, and Nathan feinted towards him, trying to get a good shot in. Darius just backed slightly away. He didn't leave the window, and his gaze was locked on Nathan.

"Nathan!" Jane cried as Darius caught the small boy's wrist. I darted forward automatically, but Darius had already pulled Nathan through the window, and disappeared.

"Nathan!" I shouted, rage lighting a wild-fire in my chest. "Jo and Kristina, get your asses up!"

I saw Darius darting through the gardens, dragging Nathan-- small, comparatively helpless Nathan-- along behind him. I saw Kristina appear, twirling, trying to sort out which way to go. Josephine appeared, then soared after Darius, with Kristina hot on her heels. I was leaning out the window, trying to follow their jerky movements through the thick maze of bushes and plants. I wanted to light the whole damn thing on fire.

Jane crashed into me from behind, screaming for Nathan and pounding on my back.

"Where'd he go, Benedikt, where's he taking him?" she wailed. I couldn't see them anymore.

"I don't know," I breathed, slumping against the window frame. Jane abruptly shoved me out of the way, leaning out the window precariously. I caught her shoulders, but she refused to be pulled back, and I was too worried about hurting her to really press her too hard.

"I'll kill you Darius!" she screamed. "I'll kill you for hurting us! Le mataré!"

Her cheeks were bright red, her teeth bared, her eyes bright with hate. Her hair was flying around her face, making her like an animal. Insane. My heart went cold.

"Jane," I pleaded. "Jane, don't."

She let out a primal, monstrous scream, then twirled. She stormed past me, towards the door. She punched a hole in the wall. Tiny, demure Jane punched a hole in the wall. She screamed in pain, then flung the door open and ran down the hall. I flew after her, catching her almost immediately. Her hand was bleeding now, and I pressed my lips tightly together to ignore the perversely amazing smell. I wrapped my arms around her, pinning her to my chest as she squirmed and screamed. Oh god, she screamed like someone was ikilling/i her…

"Jane, Jane, shh, stop, Jane," I begged.

"Think of the baby, Jane, you might hurt it, the baby, Jane," Millecent chanted, appearing to smooth Jane's hair. Jane howled, convulsing in my arms.

"What's wrong with her?" I heard Jordan cry, mortified.

"Is she epileptic?" Ashton asked, as if I would know something like that. Jane suddenly went limp, her breathing ragged as she sobbed. I cradled her against my shoulder, my lips pressed against the base of her neck. I stared up at the bewildered vampires around me.

"What's wrong with her?" I moaned.


	22. Chapter 18

I was pacing in the living room. James, Millie, and the Hunters were out searching for Nathan. Carmen was huddled against Jane's limp form, weeping uncontrollably. I fought the urge to pick her up and fling her at the wall. It wouldn't help anything.

I paused to stroke Jane's sweaty hair. She twitched in her sleep, murmuring. I flinched away.

I paced by Augustine, who caught my arm.

"Benedikt, stop," he said. He stared at me, his face ancient and sad. "I know you're worried. Just think. Don't walk."

I stared at him, thinking. As annoying as he could be, Augustine was right. Pacing would do nothing.

Then, I had an idea. I darted towards the door, then back to Jane, my teeth bared in frustration. Should I leave her? Even for a short time?

"Watch her," I growled at my brother finally, flying out the door.

Rider chuckled as I ground my teeth. He had Vanessa's hand pressed to his cheek, seeming to mock me with his mate. I breathed in deeply, which did absolutely nothing to calm me down.

"What's wrong with the señora?" Vanessa purred. "Not loco again, I hope."

"Again? What do you mean, again?" I demanded. Vanessa laughed, as if this was gossip, not an emergency.

"The little girl went crazy when she was… hmm… fifteen? Maybe? She would lie in her bed and scream like an animal, sometimes. But mostly she just stared, you know, like she was seeing something what scared her. But we fixed her. Don't worry."

"We're sorry we didn't tell you that you were taking damaged goods," Rider said. His dark eyes were sparkling with unchecked delight. "But we made her better. Little señora is alright, yes?"

"Look, leeches," I spat. Their eyebrows shot up in indignation. "My wife, my pregnant wife, may have just lost her mind. I need you to help me understand what's wrong."

"We don't know how the frail human mind functions!" Vanessa snarled. "How can we help you with the little brat, and whatever bratling is in her?"

I grabbed her by the throat and slammed her head into the table, which split in half with a shudder. Rider roared. I shifted my hands so my fingers were locked in Vanessa's thick brown hair, and my hand darted out to grab Rider by his hair, as well.

"If I _ever_," I breathed, shaking them. "See you two again. I will _kill _you. You _hurt_ her."

I shook them, and they snarled bitterly.

"If you help Darius, you'll regret it. Understand?"

There wasn't an answer, so I cracked their heads together. They yelled.

"Fine," Vanessa hissed, squirming. Her face was contorted into a horrible grimace. "Get out of here, Chasecroft!"

As if they had any power over anything I did. I could imagine tearing them apart. Leaving all their body parts out in the open. Watching the sun hit them as I sat in some nice, shady place. I was ready to do it, too. I lowered my mouth to Rider's throat. My teeth were bared.

My cell rang. I growled, then shoved the two leeches on the ground. They darted to the other side of the room like frightened fish, nursing their wounds morosely. I flipped open my phone.

"Hello?"

"Ben?" Jordan said. "Benedikt, she woke up. She wants you back."

"Put her on," I demanded. There was some murmuring, some static that scratched the inside of my ears.

"Benedikt?" Jane breathed.

"Jane," I said, relieved. She had a strange, embarrassed tone to her voice. Like she had gotten caught doing something horrible. "Jane, I'm coming home right now. I'll be there soon."

"I'm sorry, Benedikt," she whispered.

"No, Jane, don't be--"

"I broke your wall," she insisted.

"Jordan broke my door," I pointed out, kicking at Rider's foot as I brushed past him. He snapped his teeth at me.

Jane barked out a laugh. "But that's just Jordan. Jordan didn't… just…"

"Jane, I'm coming home. I'll be there soon." I hesitated. "Look, take care of Carmen or something. Alright?"

There was a pause. "Alright. I will. I love you."

"I love you, too, Jane. So much. See you."

She hung up, and I did too. I was already racing home.

Carmen was snuggled up against Jane on the couch. Music, throbbing and intense, was playing from Carmen's ipod as she slept.

_Against the grain should be a way of life_

_What's worth the price is always worth the fight_

_Every second counts, 'cause there's no second try_

_So live like you're never living twice…_

Jane was stroking her hair absently, gazing into the crackling fire-place. She glanced up as I closed the door. She smiled at me. I hurried over to take her hand. She pressed my fingers to her cheek, that sad smile not leaving her face.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"You should be. Who said you could give Carmen an ipod?" I said, shaking my head with a severe frown on my face. "If we take it away, she's going into withdrawal. You can take care of her, then."

Jane laughed quietly. "No. Why would I be sorry about that? I'm sorry… about freaking out."

I was quiet for a while. I gently picked up Carmen's small, sleeping body, grimacing at how light she was. Were little kids supposed to be so scrawny? I walked up the stairs and tucked her into her bed, taking the earphones out of her ears and turning the music player off. I flicked on her night-light at the other end of the room, then walked back downstairs. Jane was now right in front of the fire-place. The orange light played strangely on her black hair. Sort of… unnaturally. As if that was the wrong sort of light. I went over and picked her up gently. She smiled and leaned her head against my shoulder as I carried her over to the couch. I sat down with her on my lap. She reached up to play with the hair on the back of my neck. Her nails brushed my skin, and I shivered lightly. I placed my hand on her growing stomach, staring at the paleness of my skin in contrast to her black night-gown.

"I spoke with Rider and Vanessa."

Her small hand spasmed, yanking my hair to a point that was almost like pain. Then she started squirming to get out of my arms. I desperately held her closer.

"Jane, love, please, just listen. I had to… it was…"

She stopped squirming to stare at me. I tossed my head back and bared my teeth at the ceiling.

"_Stop looking at me like that_," I snarled. My heart was fluttering angrily. Jane turned her face to the fire, her small body quivering. One of her hands was still locked in my hair, but the other was pressed against my chest, feeling that angry heart knocking around. I breathed deeply, trying to hear past my body and into hers. Her heart was thudding heavily against her ribs. I sighed. She let go of me and turned her body completely, so that she was sitting primly on my knees, her face hidden from me.

I leaned forward and settled my arms around her, my hands clasped in front of her. I rested my chin on her shoulder.

"You were sick. I was scared. It's not like I was plotting your demise over there, Jane."

"You could have waited until I woke up," she said through clenched teeth.

"I didn't know if you were going to wake up." I waited, but she didn't answer. "Jane, just… what happened? I… I don't know how to help you."

Jane tugged lightly at my hands, then went to stand up. I grudgingly let her go. She paced to the fire, then back.

"I've never liked fire, much. I'm more of a… watery person, I guess. Water always seemed a lot more friendly to me." Jane paused to smile vaguely into the flames. "Is that weird?"

I stared at the hem of her gown, silent.

"But lately I've been more into the fire," she said. "Why do you think that is?"

"_Jane_," I said, getting up and grabbing her by the shoulders. "What's _happening_ to you?"

Tears were welling up in her eyes. "I don't know."

She pressed her face into my chest. She wasn't sobbing. Just… crying softly.

"What was going on in there?" I asked, touching the top of her head with my fingertips. "What were you thinking about?"

She shivered. "Nathan's so small. I just thought of him… I wished he was bigger… he could kill Darius, if only he was bigger…"

I held her more tightly, my lip curling. I understood.

"They'll find him, Jane," I promised. I was listening to her heart, to Augustine and Natalia speaking softly in the next room. I barely heard the front door open.

"Benedikt," Millie called from the entryway. Jane looked up, her eyes wild. Millie appeared, her hair dripping with rain and her face horribly mystified.

James followed, walking slowly with something in his arms. My ears were bombarded with a quick, uneven thumping noise. A heartbeat? Ridiculous. It was too strong to be a vampire's heart, but too fluttery to be a human.

James set the thing on the couch, his face filled with horrified curiosity.

"_Nathan?!" Jane moaned, her hand reaching out to the flushed child on the couch._

_I let her go, darting forward to press my hand to Nathan's blood-red cheek, sick understanding filling me._

_Nathan was human again._


	23. Chapter 19

"Oh my god, what happened?" Jane cried, stumbling forward. She fell to her knees beside me, patting Nathan's warm face. "What did he to do Nathan?"

Nathan twitched in his sleep, his face contorting. His hands reached up like claws and pulled at his button-up shirt. It was about ten sizes too big.

"Look at his chest, Benedikt," James said quietly. I looked up at him. His scarred chest was bared, and I realized that he had given Nathan his shirt.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Look at his chest," he repeated. He sat down on a chair and buried his face in his hands. "His _chest_."

I looked at Jane, whose eyes were wide, horrified. She nodded once, and reached out with a trembling hand to undo the buttons.

Nathan's pale skin was covered in small scars from his time in the fighting rings. But as more of his milky skin was revealed, a new, puckered, red scar was made known.

"Oh, my god…" Jane whispered, pulling her hand back. I reached forward and finished taking the shirt off.

The mark was huge. Horrible.

"He reversed the vampirism by taking out his heart and flushing out the disease," James said. "That's… all I could think of."

"Took out his heart?" Jane squeaked, her fingertips touching the puckered flesh.

"Then put it back after it had been cleared of the disease," James said.

"Nathan?"

Oh, god.

Carmen must have woken up and shuffled downstairs while we were distracted. She was rubbing her eyes sleepily. She saw Nathan's face, and her eyes lit up.

"Nathan!" she cried, running forward. Millie caught her, picking her up.

"No, Carmen," she said. Carmen squirmed.

"Nathan's back! Why can't I see him?" she whimpered, tears welling up in her big brown eyes.

"Nathan's sick right now, sweetie," Jane said, her voice wavering. "Nathan's…"

She burst into tears, her palm flush against Nathan's heaving little chest. Carmen wrenched in Millie's arms, dropping to the floor like a cat. She darted forward and fell to her knees next to Jane.

"Nathan?" she whispered. She patted his shoulder, her eyes locked on the brand-new wound. "Nathan, wake up. Wake up."

Nathan stirred, but didn't answer. Carmen started to cry.

"Nathan, please wake up. You said you wouldn't leave me," she said. "You promised."

Nathan didn't move. Carmen started sobbing.

"The little boy is human, now," Josephine said. She and Kristina had walked in, dripping with rain.

"We're sorry we couldn't stop it," Kristina said. They seemed to be fading, becoming one, continuing each other's sentences.

"We couldn't catch up with Darius Thorne."

"We couldn't rescue the ring-child."

"But now he's alive," Josephine said, her eyes locked on Carmen.

"The life he and the girl were made to share can start as soon as he wakes up," Kristina agreed.

"Which should be soon."

"We've seen this before."

"It's rare."

"But real."

"He'll tire easily."

"But he'll be alright."

"We'll do better, next time."

"We thought you could protect us!" Jane cried. "Why are you here if you can't even help Nathan?"

Kristina closed her eyes wearily. "There were only two of us, and he is being helped by his entire coven. We managed to kill one member."

Josephine held up her arm. It was mangled, but healing as we watched. "The Thornes are all strong and violent. We think the Creeds should be involved."

"No," I said.

"Yes, Benedikt," Natalia said. She appeared behind me, staring at Nathan. Her eyes were lit up with rage. She bared her teeth. "Creeds take care of each other. Levi Creed knew Nathan. He admired Nathan. He will come, whether we like it or not."

"They're dangerous," I objected. She looked at me. Her face was beautiful in its ferocity.

"Isn't that the point?" she asked coldly. I looked down at Nathan's face.

His eyes shot open, blue lightening. His lip curled back from his teeth, and his hands shot up and grabbed my throat. He hissed.

"Nathan, it's me!" I said, catching his arms. His fingers tightened around my neck, but he blinked.

"Benedikt?" he asked.

"Nathan!" Carmen cried. Nathan turned to look at her, then cried out, his hands dropping from my throat to his chest.

"Nathan!" Carmen said again, covering Nathan's hands with her own. "Nathan, it's okay, you're home now. You're safe."

"Home," Nathan said. He entwined his fingers with hers, a slow, happy smile on his face.

"Oh, god, Nathan," Jane said. "I'm so sorry, Nathan."

"Jane's here," he said sleepily. "That's nice. Is Emma and Dylan here, too? It'd be nice, if everyone was here…"

James looked at me. "Who?"

"Emma and Dylan were two vampire children Nathan knew," I said, staring at Nathan's blank blue eyes. "They were killed a few years before I met him."

"Oh, god," Millie breathed. "Where does he think he is?"

"Maybe his happy place?" Augustine guessed, walking over and resting his hand on my shoulder. "A place where everyone that matters to him is."

Millie darted around and picked him up gently. "I'm taking him to his room. Carmen, come with me."

"Mama, vous êtes ici!" Nathan mumbled, reaching up and touching her cheek. Millie smiled wryly.

"What, I'm not in your happy place all myself?" she asked. Carmen tugged on Millie's long skirt.

"What did he say?" she asked. Millie reached down to hold her hand as they walked towards the stairs.

"He thought I was his mother," she answered.

Jane leaned into me, pressing her face into my shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" I asked Natalia, wrapping my arms around Jane.

"I have to call Levi," she said. I nodded, pressing my lips against Jane's head.

"Come what may, brother," Augustine said, walking with Natalia into the kitchen.

"Yeah," I mumbled. "Come what may."

**I'm sorry if this chapter is super short! This is going to be the last chapter for about a month, because I'm going to be super busy with school and stuff. I'm SO sorry. D: But trust me, as soon as school is over, chapters will be popping up like daisies. BTW, tell me if you see anything wrong with this chapter… I just feel like I did something wrong… ^_^**


	24. Chapter 20

"I don't like it," Carmen said decisively. "And neither does Nathan."

"Nathan's asleep, girl, how would he know?" Millie snapped, dropping the dress onto the couch. Carmen looked up at me, her eyes big and pleading.

"Benedikt, why can't I wear black dresses like Jane?" she asked. I shifted uncomfortably. She was perched on my lap, puppy-dogging to no end.

"Because you look prettier in the light dresses," Jordan urged, plucking the dress back up and waving it tantalizingly in front of her. Carmen wrinkled her nose.

"It's cream," she said. I smirked at her distaste, then tilted my head to listen to the shuffling footsteps and fluttering heart in the hallway.

"Nathan! You should be in bed, honey!" Jordan cried, darting over to the doorway. Nathan pushed by her as if she wasn't there, shuffling over to Carmen. She leapt off my lap and pranced over to him. Nathan was rubbing his face sleepily, and Carmen pushed his messy hair out of his face.

"The vampire doctor should be here tomorrow," she said.

"Joshua?" Nathan mumbled. Carmen nodded excitedly. "I never liked him."

"Well, you gotta pretend," she said sharply."He'll figure out how to take care of you."

"I don't like him," Nathan whined. "And I'm hungry."

"Well, _I_ don't know what to feed you," she answered. "You should have thought of that before you got kidnapped."

He stuck his tongue out at her, then yawned. "What are you arguing about in here?"

Carmen's face was instantly tragic. "They're trying to make me wear a cream colored dress. A dress, Nathan!"

"You hate dresses," he said. She nodded. "Sucks to be you."

"Yes! It does suck to be me!" she cried. He flinched at the loudness.

"Levi and Tabitha don't care about how you dress," he commented. "You might even want to get rid of the nice rugs, Benedikt. Their boots tend to be muddy."

Millie drew in an affronted breath. _Mud._

"I think Carmen can wear blue jeans and a nice shirt. Everyone should dress casually for the Creeds, or they'll think you're trying to buy them out." Nathan sighed, looking exhausted. "When should they be here?"

"Soon," Jane answered from beside me. She cracked her knuckles, then looked down at her hands wonderingly.

"What?" I asked, taking her fingers gently. She shook her head.

"I haven't cracked my knuckles in so long. It's ridiculous."

"As are cream colored dresses," Carmen declared, shoving the dress into Jordan's arms and backing away quickly. She took Nathan's hand and walked with him to a chair. They both fit snugly into it. Nathan leaned heavily against her shoulder, and she stroked his hair.

Gus, Tally, James, and the Hunters were picking up the Creeds from the airport. Ashton was sitting in another high-backed chair, writing up a list of potential helpers. Jordan dumped the dress on Millie, who tossed it on the floor in a huff.

"When do you think the Creeds hunted last?" she asked Nathan, who was apparently the authority on all things Creed when Natalia wasn't here.

"I don't know," Nathan said crossly. "They wouldn't pick a random person off the street, though. Most of the Creeds have taste. I mean, they _did_ always bet on me in the rings." He preened, pushing his hair back.

"Oh yes. Being with you is awesomeness by association," Millie said dryly.

The doorbell rang, and everyone stiffened up. Then Millie relaxed.

"It's not them," she said, hurrying to the door.

"Then who is it?" Jordan demanded. I heard the door open, and Millie gasp softly.

"What? Never seen a short person before?" a small, boyish voice demanded.

"Where's little Nathan Malew?" a soprano voice asked. "We're here for little Nathan."

"He-- he--" Millie stammered. "I'm sorry, I've never seen anyone but Nathan from the rings, I--"

"Yeah, yeah," the boy said irritably. A ridiculously small form suddenly appeared in the center of the room, with another, slightly taller form right behind it.

"Hannah! Jack! I--" Nathan clutched at his chest and fell back against the chair, his eyes bulging. Hannah, who couldn't have been older than ten, darted forward and caught his shoulder in her strong, pale hand. Her hair fell in chaotic brown waves around her elbows. Jack, the small boy who looked seven, approached at a slower pace. His face would have been adorable if it weren't for his serious expression.

"Nathan," he said. "What have you done, now?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked, clutching Hannah's hand. She smiled, an adorable cherub. Jane was hyperventillating beside me.

"Diana is following after us," Hannah said happily. "Now that the Creeds are involved, we feel safe coming to your rescue, brother-boy."

"We heard about your... operation," Jack said, elbowing Hannah out of the way. "Really lucky. Kind of."

Nathan was beaming hugely. "I'm glad you came."

"This is Carmen?" Hannah asked, patting Carmen's head. "She's adorable."

Nathan wrapped an arm around her, proud and excited. He pointed at me and Jane. "You two know Benedikt. That's his mate, Jane."

The ring-children turned to gaze at us.

"You brought Carmen home," Jack said to Jane, his small arms twitching. Hannah caught his shoulder.

"And made Nathan happy," she said. She walked daintily over to Jane, wrapping her up in a hug. "Thank you."

"Um... Pleased to meet you," Jane said. Hannah pulled back and smiled. I could see a thin scar from her temple to her cheek bone.

"We hope to help as much as we can," she said. "You're lucky you fell in with vampires as popular as Nathan and the Chasecrofts."

"Indeed," Jack said, his scarred arms folded across his chest. "And you're lucky Diana's coming. She's crazy enough to kill anything."

"Well, as fun as this is," Nathan said, distracting Jack from the bewildered look on Jane's face. "The Creeds should be coming soon. Does anyone want to freshen up, or get dressed, or... feed me?"

"What will you eat now, Nathan?" Hannah asked. He shrugged.

"I've done well enough with water," he said, rubbing his stomach as it growled. I smiled as Hannah laughed at him.

"Come on, brother-boys. Food for Nathan, kick in the head for Jack," she sang. "Carmen, you wanna come, too?"

"Um... Yeah." Carmen helped Nathan up, and she led them into the kitchen. Jordan shifted slightly.

"So we're expecting another homicidal midget soon? Diana?" she asked. Ashton laughed.

"A friend of mine went to the rings and made a fortune betting on Diana. I heard it was great."

"Yes, small children mutilating other small children in a cage sounds simply delightful, Ashton," Millicent said. Her silver eyes were flashing. "It's sick. Sick and horrible."

"So is cannibalism, but I still laugh at it," Ashton said sulkily. Jane pressed my hand to her stomach.

"We won't eat you, baby," she crooned to it.

"Maybe," I said.

"I might want to munch on your little arms, just to taste it," Jordan said, flying over and nuzzling against Jane's stomach. "Oo's a good bebeh, huh? You are! You's a good bebeh!"

"Yeah... that's enough," Jane said, shoving Jordan's face away. "There will be no chewing on my baby."

"Damn," Jordan sighed dramatically. "Too bad, huh baby?"

"I think it ought to get used to living with carnivores as soon as possible," Ashton said. "If that means we have to chew on it, then... I guess it's for the greater good."

I was laughing, and Jane shoved me. "You're no help."

"I didn't start it," I objected.

The doorbell rang.

"Creed or midget? Creed or midget?" Jordan sang as Millicent went and opened the door.

"Shut up," I hissed.

"Long ride, Millie," James said.

"Where's Nathan?" a Southern man demanded. Everyone's breath stopped. Jordan flew to sit on the other side of Jane, and Ashton stood quickly to stand behind the couch.

"Levi--" Natalia said in a restraining tone. There was the soft jingle of spurs.

"Levi, darlin', listen to Tally. You don't know your way 'round the house," a woman urged.

"Things will go a lot faster if you followed someone," another woman agreed mildly.

"Levi, just follow me, and _Severin touch anything and I'll kill you_," Natalia snarled.

"Hey, Nat, just point the way and I'll follow," a rough voice said easily. Natalia growled.

The small ones filed quickly into the room. Carmen clutched Nathan's hand and scurried to the couch.

A wirey man with a scar down his cheek appeared in the doorway. Behind him was Natalia, a woman with wild white hair, a man whose face was scarred with burns, and a girl with a pale blonde pixie cut.

Jane shrunk back into the cushions of the couch. All the vampires stiffened. Jack and Hannah looked frighteningly excited.

Levi smiled and spread his arms wide.

"No need to fear," he said. "The Creeds are here."


	25. Chapter 21

**Sorry it took so long... I've had a big writer's block... :( I think I'm over it now, though.**

**And I'm so sorry for not replying to your awesome reviews recently! You all rock so much, I love you all. Thanks for reading, I totally don't deserve you. :)**

To the resounding silence, Levi dropped his arms to his sides. "What? Come now, we mustn't look so glum."

"Yeah," the burned man said, grinning. "We're just here to save your useless asses. No need to even stand up."

Jane glanced at me, but I tightened my hold on her arm.

"Hello, Severin," Nathan said from the chair. "Good to see none of your brain cells have grown back. I was worried."

"Nathan!" Severin said brightly. "You must've grown about… well, you haven't, really."

"The only battle Severin ever wins," Levi said, his voice cool and serious. Nathan's face, which had begun to contort into a snarl, relaxed. "A word war with Nathan."

"Not anymore," Nathan said. He smiled easily. "I'm growing now."

"Good for you. It's been a shame looking over you, Nate, a damn shame," Severin replied, lighting a cigarette. Kristina appeared around the corner, her dark eyes glittering in the light. She walked quickly forward and draped one arm over his shoulder, resting it lightly over his throat. She rested her chin on his other shoulder, the tip of her nose touching his ruined skin.

"Will you really smoke that in the same room as a pregnant woman?" she murmured. Severin pursed his lips slightly. His deep brown eyes locked on Jane.

Then he bared his teeth in a pointed smile. I saw fangs glittering, canines a few millimeters longer and insanely sharper than the others.

What the hell was _wrong_ with these people? Vampires weren't supposed to _have_ fangs!

He sauntered smoothly over to Jane. Jordan's whole body was quivering with tension. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration.

"Good to see you again, Benedikt," Severin said. My head cocked to one side in confusion. I'd never met him before in my life, that I was sure.

"He was just a toddler when you last saw him, Severin," Jordan said. "He won't remember you."

"Seriously?" Half of Severin's face filled with false hurt. "Then he won't remember that ring I got him?"

My left hand clenched into a fist. His eyes caught the movement, and he reached down to gently take those fingers.

He held the glittering band of metal and jewels up to inspect it with a smirk.

_Brushing my hand up her arm, examining the thin blue passage of blood under her skin. The ring is on my finger, and I see her blue eyes lock on it. I ignore her blank expression, yet in a corner of my mind I'm thinking about it. Marveling over the ravaged perfection of her arm, wondering how anyone, let alone a human, had survived so many bites. Taking a little razor, gazing up at her bewilderingly pretty face, feeling confused when her heart sped up but her expression didn't change. Her hand presses up towards my face, the ring flashes, and the blade falls down, down, down--_

I yanked my hand disrespectfully back. Severin raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment.

"It was real… interesting to meet you for the first time, Ben. 'Fraid I never got to hold you or nothin'. Your parents would never let anyone touch you or Gus."

I _could_ remember something of that, I realized. Gazing up into my mother's lovely, angry face, reaching up to pat her cheek as she snapped at someone I didn't care about. Severin, apparently.

"Probably won't be allowed to spend time with your kid, either," the scarred vampire went on. He waggled his fingers by his burnt skin. "I tend to scare 'em, y'know."

"How--"

Jane's question cut off when Severin looked sharply at her.

"How did my face get all like this?" he finished. His grin was huge. "Tally-buns, care to enlighten them?"

"It was your fault," Natalia said serenely. "You shouldn't have goaded me."

"As quaint as a detailed retelling sounds right now," Levi said cheerily. He flew forward, sitting on the coffee table before Jane and I. His gentle grey eyes sparkled. "Why are we here, little Mizz Chase?"

I glanced up at Nathan. He raised a bemused eyebrow. His first words to me where, "Why are you here, Chase?"

"Darius Thorne," Jane said. I looked to see Levi's reaction.

His smile widened. His eyebrows raised. "The Thornes, Chase? Don't you think that's a bit big for someone your size?"

Jane smiled. Severin's eyes flickered to Nathan, and the pixie-haired Creed took half a step back. I leaned into Jane's shoulder, keeping an eye on Levi as his smile faded.

"I suppose so," she said. She stood, her hands on her lightly bulging stomach. "However, in about five months, I'll be ready to change."

"Ready-er," Jordan said. "You'll need a while to be able to really--"

"After I change," Jane said, raising her voice to cover Jordan's. "I'm perfectly willing to end Darius myself."

My heart stopped. My hand shot up to clutch Jane's gown. She looked down at me impatiently.

"No," I said. "No, Jane, at least wait a while… After you change… don't be impulsive, please."

Her face relaxed into her beautiful, simple smile. "Of course, Benedikt. Trust me."

How frustrating. Was she really treating me this way, like a complaining child? My lips pursed and my eyes narrowed. She reached down and touched my cheek with her fingertips. Her smile became sweet and sad.

"As I was saying," she said, turning her gaze back to Levi. "Jordan and I went to the Underground a little less than six months ago. A man named Trigg was selling Carmen as stock, and I wouldn't let anyone else take her. Darius resents the fact that I got her, and he's been making my life miserable, to the extent of de-vampirizing Nathan. I don't want others to suffer for my stubbornness. I want to end it myself."

"But you don't know how to remove the Thornes in your side," the white-haired woman said. Jane smiled and nodded.

"Exactly. What I'm asking for is some… backup."

The blonde girl paced slowly to and fro. "Indeed," she said.

"Violet," the white-haired woman said. "What do you think?"

"Don't press, Tabitha," Natalia said. She, however, was watching Violet pace with the utmost concentration.

Violet stroked her lower lip. Her movements were swaying, leisurely.

"Ready… to change…" she breathed. Jane's head tipped to one side, her lips pursing.

"Severin," Violet said. "I think we should go out tonight."

"What?" Severin asked. "Where? Why?"

"She's planning on killing you," Natalia said excitedly. "Is that it, Vi?"

"No."

Natalia sighed.

"Jane," Violet said. Natalia straightened up, her eyes wide.

"No," she said. "No, Vi, don't do this."

"Hush, Tally," Tabitha said sharply. Natalia fell silent, her gaze unhappy. Then she turned to me, hopeful.

"Benedikt won't like it," she said eagerly. "Benedikt won't let you, he'll--"

Levi shot up, his teeth bared. "_Hold _your _peace!"_

Natalia walked quickly to Augustine, pressing her face against his chest.

"Jane," Violet repeated, as if nothing had happened. "Would you like to go out with Severin and I tonight?"

I pulled Jane down beside me. She sat willingly, reaching up to touch my throat.

"Where?" she asked, not wanting to back down… not wanting to be prey.

Violet smiled a vague, frightening smile. "A little dive outside of town. How do you feel about it?"

I tilted my head towards Jane. She slid her fingers up my throat, latching them in my hair.

"Benedikt…" she said. "If Benedikt comes, too."

"But of course," Violet said. Severin smiled.

"I'll get the car," he said. "You won't be disappointed, Chase."


	26. Chapter 22

**This chapter's divided into two parts: the build-up part, and the scary as all fucking hell part. At least it freaked me out as I was writing it. It has quite a bit of gore and such in it. I'm making a little page break thing so you can skip it if you don't feel comfortable with people being eaten.**

There were five humans in the dive. Not counting Jane.

Five humans to three vampires. Good odds, if I was actually hunting and not being dragged here by my possibly insane wife and two definitely insane sociopaths. Severin leaned towards me across the table of our booth.

"You can have that tweakin' kid over in the corner, Ben," he said. "Me an' Violet have been holdin' out for a while."

I leaned back against the booth, closing my eyes. My mind was quickly working through the room, though. One bartender, two waitresses, one pool player, and the kid in the corner, jittering on some drug.

"Are you going to hunt them?" Jane asked. I shook my head slightly. Violet and Severin had claimed any good food already. I didn't want to subject myself to whatever high that guy was riding.

"When you're ready to turn, Chasecroft," Violet said to Jane. "We want you to know what you're doing."

Jane touched her stomach. "I wonder what the baby will eat."

Severin and Violet looked at each other.

"You four want anything to drink?"

We all looked up at the waitress. Jane's face contorted momentarily, then she looked down at her hands.

"Water," she breathed. The waitress made a note in her book, then looked back at the rest of us. I turned my head to look at Jane.

"Nothing," I said.

"Water," Violet murmured. Severin leaned toward the waitress and smiled a close-lipped, angelic smile.

"Nothin', yet," he said serenely. If you ignored the scars, Severin was pretty good looking. The waitress, who obviously noticed that, smiled for a second, then looked down at her book to hide her eyes. Then she noticed Jane's hands, and the stomach they were resting on. Her eyes lit up.

"Are you pregnant?" she asked. Jane's blue eyes flickered up, then back down at her hands.

"Yes," she murmured. "Four months."

"Aww," the waitress simpered. "Babies are so cute. You're lucky."

"Yes. Thank you," Jane said. She couldn't meet the young woman's face. The waitress beamed and hurried off to get our waters. Severin jerked instantly forward to Jane, locking eyes with her.

"Don't think she's worth saving just 'cause she's jealous of what's bakin' in your oven, Chasecroft. She's just an average, bubble-headed meal."

"Duh," Jane snapped back. Her hands flew up from her stomach, as if she wanted to grab Severin's head and shake him. Her hands clenched midair and fell to the table. I stroked her hair, and she leaned into my hand. She took a deep breath through her teeth. "I can't save her. I know that. She's probably not worth saving. I know that. But that doesn't change the fact that she… she _spoke_ to me. Humans hardly ever speak to me."

She turned her face to the scratched varnish of the table, her hair making a curtain to guard her face. I leaned over, wrapping one arm around her and pressing my lips against her hair. My heart was clenching up. I didn't know she wanted more human companions. I'd talk to her about it during the day, when Violet and Severin weren't around to poke and prod and instigate.

"We'll wait until your water gets here, Jane," Violet said. "Then it'll start."

"Alright," Jane said shortly, impatiently. She looked up at me. Her face was calm and smooth. I smiled at her, and she slowly smiled back. Her eyes caught something over my shoulder, and she got a funny grimace on her face.

"Does it have to be like this?" she murmured as the waitress came up with two glasses of water.

"I'm sorry," I said. She closed her eyes and smiled, reaching up to touch the light pulse at my throat.

"If it keeps you with me," she breathed, almost inaudibly.

"Anything else?" the waitress asked.

"Yeah, actually," Severin said, standing up quickly and gently taking the waitress's hand. Violet scooted out of the booth, walking to the front -- and only -- door. There was a payphone right next to it on the wall. She shut the door discreetly, leaning against it with a small smile. She rested her left hand against the side of the payphone casually.

The hunt was starting.

* * *

**Scary As All Fucking Hell Half of the Chapter. I personally rate it M, if I may be so bol****d. You can skip it if you want.**

"You know how perty you are?" Severin asked, baring his pointed teeth in a smile. The girl's own smile faded, turned into a frown of confusion. I heard her heart start to pick up. Nervous.

"Well?" Severin pressed, taking a step forward. The waitress took a step back. The second waitress came up, her heart slamming in her chest but her face brave.

"Hey, mister, quit scaring her," she said authoritatively. Severin turned to her, bared his teeth, and growled. It was a fierce, wolfy sound, and it made my hair stand on end. The second waitress stumbled back, her eyes wide. Severin grabbed the nape of the first girl's neck, pulling her back, off-balance. She stumbled, her heels clattering helplessly against the wood floor. Her hands reached back, trying to dislodge his fingers. Severin's grabbed one searching hand, turning it to let him sink his teeth into her wrist. She shrieked, squirming and crying.

"Jimmy! _Jimmy!_" the other waitress screamed at the barkeep, lunging forward, trying desperately to get a hold of Severin's face. "_Katie!_"

Jimmy had hurried over to the payphone. Violet bared a smile, then shoved the pay phone off the wall. A good chunk of the wall came away with it.

Katie was still screaming, and her howls reached a crescendo as Severin shook his head, worrying her wrist like a dog worries a bone. Jane's hands were bent into claws.

"Whoops," Violet said as Jimmy staggered back. "Line's dead. Too bad."

"Laurie, get him off, get him off, make him _stop_," Katie screeched, trying to squirm out of Severin's jaws.

I had to give it to Laurie. She turned, vaulted over the bar, and came back with an aluminum baseball bat. I mean, I didn't know people could think that fast under pressure. Laurie cocked the bat back, then let it fly at Severin's head. It crumpled against his thick skull like a tin can under an eighteen wheeler. Laurie screamed angrily at the shock-wave reverberating off her arm, and I heard one of her bones crack. The bat fell to the floor, totally useless.

"What the _fuck_!" she screamed, staggering back with tears sliding down her face.

Jimmy was back-pedaling, escaping to the safety of the bar. The guy playing pool bore down on Violet, pool cue held up like a club. Violet flew out from under it, around behind him. She dug her fingers into his sides, and he yelled in surprised pain.

"_Tickle tickle!_" Violet squealed giddily, dancing back out of the cue's reach.

Severin had gotten tired of Katie's screaming. He let go of her wrist, then flung her behind the bar. She smashed into the shelves of liquor, wailing.

A new song came onto the jukebox. "_Wake up one morning and realize, your life is one big compromise, stuck in the job you swore was only temporary_…"

Jimmy was struggling with something under the bar, his eyes flickering around at the sudden chaos, then back down.

He finally pulled out a shotgun. I had no idea what he was actually going to do with it, or who he was going to do it to. I just knew I didn't appreciate seeing it so close to my pregnant wife.

I stood fluidly, then ran forward. Jimmy's eyes widened, and I could only guess at what he saw: People moving impossibly fast, doing impossible things. He raised the gun.

I caught the barrel and shoved upwards. He fired, and the round hit the ceiling with a huge crash. We both looked up instinctively to inspect the damage.

Violet caught the pool cue as it soared towards her head. She snapped it in half, then whisked the shattered end across the guy's throat. Blood spurted across her face, and she smiled broadly, catching some in her mouth. The guy gurgled, then fell into her arms. She crooned, pressing her face into his throat.

"Holy shit," I said to the sky through the hole. I was too bewildered to be too good for swearing. "There's no fucking way that's legal in this state."

Jimmy grunted and pulled the barrel back. I grabbed it with one hand and bent it back with the other. Jimmy gagged, dropping the gun. I turned and walked back to the booth quickly. Jane was watching Severin circle Laurie.

"You don't have to watch," I said, sliding into the booth. Violet's head snapped up. Her face was smeared, dripping, covered with blood.

"Yes she _does_," she growled. Her voice was thick and guttural. "She'll have to learn to be this way."

"Only you hunt this way!" I snarled back. "This is horrible, Violet, no aristocratic vampire--"

Violet's fingers shot through the dead man's throat like a knife through butter. I flinched as I heard skin tear, and ground my teeth as she dug her nails between his vertebrae, separating them. His head tore off like an old baby tooth. Jane shoved her knuckles into her own mouth to stifle a scream. I put my arm around her, and she pressed into my chest.

"Jane, come," I said, moving to stand up.

"Hold your horses, there, cowboy," Severin said, holding one hand out in a _stop_ gesture.

Jimmy the bartender had picked up a bottle of something, and flung it. It smashed against Severin's head.

"God _fucking_ dammit!" Severin cried, whipping around and leaping onto the bar. Jimmy staggered back against the shelves. Severin reached up and caught a hold of a ceiling beam. His spurs jingled as he cocked one leg back, then swung it around.

The spurs cut raggedly into Jimmy's throat. Severin swung his leg back and forth a few more times, like some sick sort of pendulum. When he was thoroughly finished, he slammed his boot down solidly on the bar. Jimmy crumpled without so much as a whimper. Severin dropped down behind the bar, his whole body quivering with delight.

**There. You can start reading now, if you skipped over the crazy part. :)**

* * *

"Benedikt," Jane murmured. "What about that boy?"

I turned to look at the stoned kid in the corner. He was rocking back and forth.

"What about him?" I asked.

"When I'm turned, I'm not drinking from Carmen or Nathan," she said icily.

"Are you _kidding _me?" I demanded. It was weird, how easily I was distracted from the death and destruction all around me. How could she affect me like that?

She sighed. "Why are you never forward thinking, darling?"

I pursed my lips, glowering. She looked up at me and smiled her benign little smile. I softened instantly.

"Do you really want some random druggie for stock?" I stalled.

"We're rich, aren't we? Send him to rehab or something," she said. I laughed. Her eyes widened, startled.

"What?" she asked. "What's funny about this?"

"We don't need to put him through rehab when we can just have him locked in a room until he's clean," I said. "And Jane, what happens when you become friends with him, too? You won't want him as stock then, and vampires don't just randomly turn humans they feel a liking to. Why are you always complicating these things?"

"Why do vampires need rules?" she countered irritably.

Laurie slammed, face-first, down on our table.

"Violet!" Jane snarled. Violet pulled the human girl back sheepishly.

"My bad," she said.

"Excuse me, love," Jane said. I stood and moved out of the booth. She followed, pressing her hand against her lower back with lazy grace. She drifted towards the boy, and I followed closely after her. She stopped in front of him.

"You look like an Anthony," she said. He got a bewildered look on his face. "Is your name Anthony?"

"N…no."

"Well, it is now, Anthony. Smile."

The boy, the newly baptized Anthony, bared his teeth in a startled smile. Jane's hand pistoned forward, catching his chin as she examined his teeth.

"He doesn't look diseased," she said. "What are you on, Anthony?"

"It was a one time thing," he said desperately. "I wouldn't do it again, I was just gonna trip with my friend Nick, we were supposed to meet here--"

"What?" Violet cried, looking up from Laurie's body. Severin shot up from behind the bar. "You mean someone's coming?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Anthony chanted. Jane turned to look at me.

"Should we leave?" she asked. I looked up at Severin and Violet.

"You two brought this on yourselves, and it could lead to Chasecroft. You better clean this up perfectly," I said. "Let's go, Jane. Move faster, Anthony. We're in a hurry thanks to you."

I wrapped one arm around Jane's slender shoulders, and grabbed Anthony by his collar.

"Don't worry about it, Ben," Severin said, grinning. His teeth were blood-stained. "We're professionals."

We left the Creeds behind to clean up their mess.

**Too much? I'm sorry. I considered editing it out, but then I'm like... nah. I personally liked the flow of the crazy part. Please tell me what you think. :)**

**"Did that scare you? I fucking hope so."**

**~Destery, youtube video "Halloween Farts"**


	27. Chapter 23

"Jane's home, Jane's home, Jane's… got a fucking _person_ with her, holy crap!" Jordan finished, flying around Anthony. "Where'd this guy come from?"

"You know what? I'm home too. I want a bit of recognition when I walk in the door."

"Ah, Benni, _kimi_," she crooned.

"That's mean," I said. "I'm not your subordinate, you shouldn't be using a pronoun like kimi."

"You know, I ignore you and you complain. I pay attention to you, and you complain even more. I give up, you ungrateful halfer," she said. "_Shi-ne, kimoi gaki_!"

I clutched my chest. "Ouch. You're a horrible person."

"Just kidding. _Suki_."

"_Kirai_."

"I have no idea what they're saying," Anthony muttered to Jane, who gave him an… interesting look. He shrank back.

"Jordan, this is Anthony."

"She kidnapped him," I said. Jordan beamed and flashed a thumbs up.

"Wicked," she said. "I always knew you'd be hard-core."

"Right." Jane rubbed her face and took my arm. "What time is it?"

"Five in the morning," Jordan said. "Where are the Creeds?"

"Off disposing of dead bodies," I said. "Significantly overkilled dead bodies."

The small Japanese vampire bared her teeth. "Are you serious? They shouldn't have done that! Jane, you know we don't hunt like that, right? It's nothing like that with aristocrats."

"I know."

I looked down at her as she stared into space. "What do you want to do, Jane?"

"Lock Anthony up," she grumbled sleepily. "Go to bed."

I hugged her shoulders and led her up the stairs. "Jordan, could you…?"

"Of course, Benedikt. Move, Anthony," she said sharply, grabbing his shoulder and dragging him off.

"My name's not Anthony…" he said, struggling lightly against her solid grip.

"It is now," she said. "Jane seriously changed your name? Hard-core."

Jane slumped, like she was suddenly made out of jelly. I didn't even miss a step. I swept her up into my arms and carried her up the stairs.

"What's the difference between aristocrats and everyone else?" she mumbled. Always wanting to know more.

"What's the deal with you always asking questions?" I asked. She just smiled sleepily, coy and quiet as ever.

"Aristocrats have money and taste," I said. "And our blood-lines are… I guess you could say clearer?"

"How so?" she said as I tucked her into bed. I laid down beside her and closed my eyes. I felt her delicate hand on my cheek.

"We're all sort of… attached to each other? Sires and such are more important to us. Some of the real prissy vampires can tell you every blood-connection they have to the Elder degree," I said.

"Elder degree?" She was half-asleep; it came out "Eller agree?"

"All the way to the oldest living vampires," I said. "They're just a bunch of old people."

"Why's it important… to be able to… connect to them?" she asked, shaking her head to be able to pay attention.

"I'll tell you when you're awake," I suggested.

"I don't want to go to sleep right now," she said. "I want to know."

I sighed. "You're so ornery. I'm tired, too."

"Fine," she said. "Silly vampire."

After a few moments, she was breathing evenly. I gently settled one arm over her and closed my eyes.

I was half-asleep when I started to hear the thumping.

"Hey. Hey, let me out of here. Hey!" Anthony was shouting, banging on some wall or door. He better shut up before he woke up James. I raised my head and glowered sleepily. James needed twelve solid hours of sleep to be not homicidal.

"Let me _out_, I want to go _home_, hey--"

Small feet pattered down the hall. A door opened.

"Be quiet, before James wakes up," Nathan growled sleepily.

"James isn't as nice as Jane," Carmen agreed.

"Millie's even meaner," Jack said. "And she has a sword."

"You should be more respectful to the people who saved you," Hannah pointed out. "Jane could have let the Creeds kill you, but she let you live."

"Yeah," Jack said. "So you owe her."

"A lot," Nathan agreed. Their words, running together with such ease and intricacy, was sinister. Their sweet, silvery voices made it worse.

"Jane might need you later," Carmen said.

"It's only fair," Jack put in.

"And really, she won't be mean," Nathan said.

"She understands," Carmen said, her voice verging on hero-worship.

"She's very sweet, really," Hannah said.

"It's the others you have to worry about," Jack promised.

"And Jane won't be able to help you with James," Nathan said. "Or Millie, or the Hunters, or the Creeds."

"So you better not wake any of them up," Carmen said.

"Or they'll drain you dry," Jack said.

"It'll be fast, but it'll still hurt," Hannah threatened.

"We'll make sure," Jack agreed.

"We may be small, but we're a lot meaner than you," Nathan said. "So shut up."

"And be nice to the vampires," Carmen said. I heard someone bump into a wall. Were they seriously cornering him? I love those kids.

"Good morning, Anthony," Jack said after a long pause. "Now go to sleep."

The must have left him, because I heard the door close. They filed back down the hall.

"That was fun," Jack said before they all went to their separate rooms. Ah, the pitter-patter of little feet attached to demonic children. I smiled and drifted back to sleep.

Around four in the afternoon, there was a knock at the front door. When nobody stirred, the doorbell rang. I heard James wake up swearing, and Millie land on the floor of her room and fly down the stairs. The door opened.

"_Parlez-vous français_?" she growled.

"_Parlez_… Do I speak… Oh, no. I don't speak much French," a pleasant voice said at the door.

"Then fuck off," Millie said, slamming the door. The doorbell rang urgently again. Millie punched the power for the ringer. The bell cut off with a squeak.

"It's four!" she snarled. "Two more hours and you'll be welcome here!"

"Please!" the man cried, banging on the door. "I'm Doctor Joshua Arnold, I'm here to see Lady Jane Chasecroft, and Nathan de L'Anneau!"

Millie was quiet for a long time, probably deciding which she wanted more: for Nathan and Jane and the baby to be healthy and safe, or for two more hours of sleep.

"They aren't awake yet either," she finally said. "Two hours."

"I can't wait inside?" Joshua asked weakly. "It's rather… sunny out today. I'm rather uncomfortable here…"

"Then you shouldn't have come at four in the afternoon," Millie said, ever-so-practical. "However, if you're quiet, you can come into the living room and wait for the rest of the household to be awake, you inconsiderate surplus."

The door opened, and I imagined Joshua edging past the looming Lady of Roan. The door slammed, and Millie stomped back up the stairs.

I pressed my face into the back of Jane's neck. She grumbled and touched my arm around her waist. After a moment, she was sleeping heavily again. I slowly picked myself off the bed, pulling on clothes and watching to make sure she didn't wake up.

When I was presentable, I went down to greet the good Doctor Arnold.

He looked up at me from his place on the couch. He smiled and stood, frightening in his clean-cut perkiness. I made a slight face, ignoring his extended hand.

"Thanks for coming, Doctor," I said. He lowered his hand, his smile unfazed.

"No problem at all, Master Chasecroft," he said. "Where are--"

"What house am I in?" an angelic voice asked. We both turned to stare at a small, curly-haired girl.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded.

She turned to me, smiled excitedly, and leapt for my throat.


	28. Chapter 24

"What the hell?!" I cried, tearing the small vampire off of me and flinging her against the wall. She landed on her feet, smiling gamely and ready to go again.

Hannah ignored the stairs, leaping over the banister and landing solidly on the wooden floors. She held her hands out in front of the intruder.

"Diana!" she cried. "Stop, stop, you're at Chasecroft!"

Diana blinked, looking like a startled puppy. After a moment, she said, "I demand that you only speak to me in rhyme."

"What the fuck?" Hannah said. Diana slapped at her, but Hannah jerked away.

"Goddamn bitch!" Diana cried delightedly.

"Tourettes-ridden leech," Jack commented from upstairs. Diana bolted around Hannah a few times, then shot straight up the stair railing. Somehow she ended up on a chandelier screaming out "God Save the Queen" and laughing hysterically.

"She obviously has not been getting enough attention," Jack said, looking up at her.

"Where's her bag? Where's her bag?" Hannah chanted, darting around the living room.

"Oh, yeah, get her mp3 player," Nathan said. "And make sure it's Jefferson Airplane."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Carmen said.

"Oh, my god, kill it, kill it," Jordan cried, appearing with a plate in hand. Ashton gently pried it away from her.

"Leave it alone, Jordan," he said. She looked at him, her eyes dimming and her face contrite.

"_Gomen, _Ashton," she said, biting her lip.

Diana dropped out of the chandelier, landing behind Hannah. She ducked down, sweeping Hannah's legs out from under her. Hannah landed on her back, grunting but not looking very surprised. Jack appeared behind Diana, cramming some headphones down over her head.

She froze. Her face became stoned and content.

"The Mamas and the Papas," she said, wobbling over to a chair and plopping down in it.

After less than two minutes, there was a small snore.

"Did she just pass out?" Jordan asked incredulously.

"No," Hannah said, placing a blanket over the smaller girl. "She just fell asleep."

"To the Mamas and the Papas," Jack said.

"Good call. I thought Grace Slick would be enough to put her down," Nathan said. "I haven't seen her in so long."

"What are you talking about?" Carmen demanded.

"Bands and singers from the sixties," Nathan said. "Maybe we can find you some songs you'll like."

"Who is that?" I snarled, pointing at the small, disarmingly adorable monster curled up on one of my chairs.

"That's Diana," Ashton said. He and Jordan were leaning over the railing on the second floor. "One of the best and craziest ring-children ever."

"_The _best and craziest ring-child ever," Jack said. "No-one else is as good or crazy as Diana."

"So she should be really helpful in this alliance!" Hannah said, beaming like an angel on speed.

"Which song is she listening to?" Nathan pressed Jack.

"California Dreamin'," he replied. "If we wait, she'll start singing in her sleep."

"Oh, yeah, that's pretty great," Nathan said, grinning. "Carmen, come watch with me."

I examined Diana. She had full lips and a wide nose, with milky-pale skin and curly brown hair. Her mouth was bent into a sleepy frown, and her brow was furrowed, like she was thinking hard.

"Monday, Monday," she breathed, rolling over and clawing a deep furrow in the arm-rest of the chair. I could see some red-brown burns on her arm.

"What happened?" I asked, gesturing to her injuries.

"Well, she probably just ran through the sunlight," Hannah said. "Expect her to be a bit more messed up than usual."

Doctor Joshua Arnold (my mind instinctively screamed _asshole!_) moved a bit closer, gently prodding her arm.

"The Argyles should be coming this evening as well, Benedikt," Ashton called down.

"Bitch, bitch, bitch," Diana suddenly said, sitting bolt upright. "Enough of that eighties crap."

"Go back to sleep," Nathan said.

"Oh. Well then." Diana curled back in on herself, passing out easily moments later.

"Wow," Carmen said.

"Don't sing any eighties songs where she can hear you," Hannah said.

"Unless you want to die," Jack said. "If you want to lose some of your bits, by all means, start singing some Oingo Boingo and Beastie Boys. We won't stop you."

"And we won't stop _her_," Hannah said. "Anyway, Argyles? Cassandra and Heath and Abhartach, those Argyles?"

"Cassandra, Heath, Cynthia, Amadán, and maybe a few others," Ashton said. "I think Abhartach refused to go on account of he is friends with a few Thornes."

"Eh, kill 'em all," Diana grumbled. We all looked down at her, but she appeared to be fast asleep.

"She's damn scary," I said. Jack shrugged.

"A ring-girl went to be part of the Argyle family. Orlaith." Jack turned to Nathan, his eyes lighting up in a strange way. "Do you… do you remember Orlaith?"

Nathan pressed his lips together and nodded. "Mm…"

I apparently am not very good at deciphering the facial expressions of small people. Carmen, being a small person, was able to understand the look on the two boys' faces. She grabbed a hold of Nathan's sleeve and tugged on it fiercely.

"Or-lah, who is that?" she demanded, her slight accent rough over the name. "Who is this _Or-lah_?"

"Just a little ring-girl," Hannah said. "She's got pretty straight blonde hair, and she's really pale, like she was dipped in sugar. I love that girl!"

Carmen reached up slowly to touch one of her brunette curls. Even her voice was slow. "Blonde?"

"She's really adorable-looking," Hannah went on. "Tiny and fragile-seeming, you know? But that girl can mess you up, it's crazy."

Carmen's hands clenched into fists. "Oh."

I felt small fingers suddenly wrap around my throat. Hannah glanced up at me, then back to Nathan. Then she whipped around, her blue eyes bulging.

"Diana, get off of him!" she cried, raising her hands up.

"It… It has to happen," Diana insisted in my ear, her nails digging into my skin. "It just has to happen."

"Did you go to Woodstock?" I asked. Her fingers instantly slackened. She was perched on my shoulders, and now she fiddled with my hair.

"That place was awesome," she chirped merrily. "Have you ever met Arlo Guthrie? That guy, I just wanted to eat him up. Him and his Jew-curls, I loved him."

"Yeah, he was pretty cool," I agreed. "If you get off of me, I'll find you some tapes you'd like."

She flew off my shoulders, appearing in front of me with a puppy-dog look on her face.

"Diana, you'll get to kill some Thornes, maybe," Jack said.

"Uph. Pha. Platypus," Diana said. "Posh."

"Yeah. She's excited," Jack said after a really long pause.

My ears pricked suddenly, catching a soft, broken tune. I tilted my head so I could listen to the sounds above me. After a moment, the sound of Jane's gentle singing returned.

"Monster… how should I feel? Creatures lie here… looking through the window…"

My face broke out in a huge grin. It was so perfect, her voice. I flew up the stairs, racing to our room.

She was calmly making the bed, her lips moving slightly and her words soft and sparkling.

"The night he caged her, bruised and broke her… he struggled closer, then he stole her…"

"Another ring-child is here," I said. She turned and held her arms out to me. I hurtled into her arms, unable to even think about it. She laughed against my hair as I pressed my lips against her throat and inhaled.

"Is it Diana? What's she like?" she asked.

"Insane. She tried to kill me. Twice."

"Oh."

I wrapped my arms around her waist, soaking up her warmth. She reached up and petted the back of my neck.

"I love you," I said. She laughed again.

"I love you too," she said. "Did your close encounter with death leave you feeling like you have to get all your affairs in order, or what?"

"Encounters with death, thank you. Plural," I said. "And I just thought you'd like to know."

"I do like it," she said, pulling back and smiling at me. Then she frowned, her eyes abruptly distant and serious.

"Jane?" I asked. She stretched up and brushed her lips softly against mine.

"It's nothing," she said. "I just had a weird dream with talking animals. It freaked me out."

"Oh." I wondered though. When had I last seen her face like that? So sad, so concerned?

Never.

"Don't be sad," I pleaded. She laughed, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

"I can't be sad, when you're here," she said.

I gently hugged her closer.

_Don't lie to me_ was my last thought before she kissed me.

**Don't hurt me, but… I'm getting kind of bored of the story. I'm not just gonna dump it, but… I think it'll be going on hiatus while I maybe edit some stuff and get back on track. The story has gotten too fluffy-- not as dark and serious as I had wanted it to turn out. And the characters have weakened a little-- Benedikt is not at all the way I had originally wanted him. In my head, he was more of the cold, serious narcissist, and even Nathan had more of a sneaky-bastard streak to him. (I need more goddamn DECADENCE!!) Also, I'm not focusing on Jane/Benedikt anywhere NEAR as much as I should, especially considering it's their story. This straying from the original story makes me frustrated, but I can fix it. Meanwhile, I was thinking of putting up another story to distract you all. :) IDK. I swear, I won't just drop all my loyal readers (btw, I'm so glad I have you all) but I'm going to work a bit more on moving the story along rather than just posting meaningless chapters. I hope you all understand, please don't be super upset!**

**~Aurora, aka Hollyn**


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